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HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



§ 1. Settlement of British America. 

The discovery of the western hemis- 
phere, efTected by the bold and perse- 
vering genius of Christopher Columbus, 
in the year 1492, gave a new impulse 
to European activity ; and the splendid 
conquests of the Spaniards in the West 
Indies, and in South America, excited 
the emulation of the other maritime 
powers of Christendom. Our ancestors 
were not dilatory in their endeavours to 
enter upon this new path to glory and 
wealth; for we find that, in the year 
1498, John Cabot, by virtue of a com- 
mission from Henry VII., took formal- 
possession, in the name of that monarch, 
of a considerable portion of the con- 
tinent of North America. No attempt, 
however, was made to establish a colony 
in that country till the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, when Sir Humphrey Gilbert 
and Sir Walter Raleigh, in the years 
1578 and 1584, formed settlements there, 
which were soon wasted by famine, by 
disease, and by the arrows of the natives, 
who, as heathens, were counted as 
nothing in the royal grants under which 
the adventurers acted. The first per- 
manent British settlement was esta- 
blished in the reign of King James I., 
under whose auspices a company of 
adventurers built James Town, on the 
northern side of James River. This 
colony, however, continued for a long 
time in a feeble state. It was founded 
A. D. 1G07; and, though it received 
continual accessions of new settlers, its 
population, in the year 1670, amounted 
to no more than 40,000 souls. 

The Virginian colonists were prompted 
to quit their native country by tlie hope 
of bettering their temporal condition. 
A higher motive gave rise to the colo- 
nization of the northern portion of the 
new continent. After the passing of 
the Act of Uniformity, in the reign of 
Elizabeth, the Puritans had suiFered a 
grievous persecution ; to escape from 
which a small body of them had fled, 
m the year 160G, into Holland. Un- 
willing, however, entirely to sever 
^Ihemselves from the land which gave 



them birth," they applied to theirl so- 
vereign. King James, beseeching him to 
permit them to establish themselves in 
his North American dominions, in the 
full exercise of liberty in religious 
matters. With this their request, in its 
full extent, James refused to comply. 
All that they could obtain from him was 
a promise that he would connive at their 
infringements of the statutes, the ope- 
ration of which had driven them into 
voluntary exile. On the faith of the 
royal word to this effect, they embarked, 
to the number of 101, in the month of 
September, 1G20, and arriving at Cape 
Cod in the following November, soon 
afterwards fixed themselves in a place of 
settlement, which they called New 
Plymouth, and which, it must be ob- 
served to their honour, they purchased 
from the natives. Dreadful were the 
difficulties with which this handful of 
religionists had to struggle ; landing as 
they did in the depth of winter, and 
exposed as they were, notwithstanding 
their conciliatory disposition, to the 
hostility of the natives. But, supported 
by the principles of piety, and deter- 
mined, at any price, to purchase religious 
freedom, they maintained their ground ; 
and being from time to time recruited 
l)y new migrations of their persecuted 
brethren, they, by degrees, spread 
themselves over the province of Mas- 
sachusetts. 

It too often happens that religion 
produces dissension, and that those who 
have suffered persecution, when they 
have obtained power', become persecu- 
tors themselves. This was the case 
with the principal inhabitants of the 
colony of Massachusetts. Falling into 
the common error of the times, in think- 
ing that uniformity of sentiment on the 
subject of religious doctrines was re- 
quired by the truth of the gospel, and 
by a regard to the peace and welfare of 
society, they established it as a rule of 
government, " that no man should be 
admitted to the freedom of their body 
politic, but such as were members of 
some of their churches ;" and they after- 
wards passed a resolution, " that none 
B 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. O^^ 



but sucli should share in the adminis- 
tration of civil government, or have a 
voice in any election." In this instance, 
however, as in many others, evil was 
productive of good. The discontented 
sectarians sought other settlements, and 
founded tlie colonies of Connecticut, 
Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. 

AA'hilst the once persecuted Protestants 
thus gave a sad proof that their suffer- 
ings had not taught them mercy, it 
was reserved for a Roman Catholic 
nobleman to give to the new world a 
striking example of this happy docility. 
In the year 1632, Lord Baltimore ob- 
tained a charter for a new colony, the 
first settlers of which consisted chiefly 
of Roman Catholic gentlemen ; and, 
having established his band of emi- 
grants in Maryland, he so exerted his 
influence with the members of the 
assembly of the new province, that they 
laid it down as a fundamental principle 
of their constitution, " that no persons 
professing to believe in Christ Jesus 
sliould be molested in respect of their 
religion, or in the free exercise thereof." 
His lordship's enlightened pohcy was 
eminently successful. Under the nur- 
ture of religious liberty, his infant set- 
tlement soon advanced rapidly towards 
maturity. 

In the reign of Charles II., royal 
charters of the most liberal tenor were 
granted to Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
and Providence Plantations ; and pa- 
tents were also granted to Lord Cla- 
rendon and the Duke of York, bestowing 
on the former aright to form plantations 
in the district now comprehending North 
and South Carolina and Georgia, and 
delegating to the latter the same right as 
resiiecting New York and New Jersey ; 
and, finally, a patent was issued, autho- 
rizing the celebrated "William Penn to 
colonize Pennsylvania and Delaware. 

The English emigrants who settled in 
North America were a class of i)eople 
very different from tlie Spaniards, who 
subdued the southern continent. They 
did not leave their native shores for tlie 
purpose of invading and plundering rich 
provinces and wealthy cities ; but they 
sought prosperity by the painful arts of 
industry and economy. Purchasing 
land from the aborigines, they at first 
devoted themselves to the culture of tlie 
soil ; and, in process of time, those who 
continued to reside on the sea-shore, or 
on the banks of naviga])le rivers, ad- 
dicted themselves to commerce. Their 
success in this pursuit is evinced by the 



fact, that though in the year 1704 the 
imports of the province of Pennsylvania 
amounted only to 11,499/. sterling, in 
1772 they were increased to the value of 
507,909/., and in the same year the 
whole of the exports from Great Britain 
to her North American colonies amount- 
ed to upwards of 6,000,000/. sterling. 

Though each colony, had its separate 
constitution, the principles of freedom 
pervaded them aU. In some provinces 
the governors and the magistrates were 
elected by the people : and in those, the 
governors and chief officers of which 
were appointed by the crown, the power 
of these functionaries was controlled by 
assemblies, the members of which were 
chosen by the freeholders, who were too 
numerous to be bribed, and too inde- 
jjendent in their cii'cumstances to be 
swayed by influence. Throughout the 
whole of the union there was not found 
a single proprietor of a borough, nor 
an interest to nurture the principles of 
bigotry and passive obedience. When 
the first settlers took possession of the 
country, they brought with them all the 
rights of Englishmen, and those rights 
they were jealous in maintaining. Their 
interior concerns were regulated by their 
representatives in assembly ; but in con- 
sideration of their origin, and of the 
protection against foreign enemies, 
which they received from the mother 
country, they cheerfully submitted to the 
obligation of exclusively trading with 
her, and of being bound by all the laws 
touching commerce which might be 
passed by the British parliament. The 
limits of the authority of parliament they 
were not critical in canvassing, with one 
exception, namely, claiming to be inde- 
pendent of that body in the matter of 
internal taxation. They maintained, 
conformably to one of the most esta- 
blished jninciples of the British consti- 
tution, that an assembly in which tiiey 
were not represented had no right to 
burden them with imposts. 

• § 2. JFarofVoG. ' 
The growing power of the British 
colonies in America was strikingly 
evinced in the year 1745, when a force 
of 5000 men, raised and equipped by 
the single state of Massachusetts, and 
acting in concert with a British arma- 
ment from the West Indies, took 
Louishourg from the French. The 
success of this expedition so much 
excited the jealousy of the government 
of France, that, after the termination of 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



the war in which Louisbourg was taken, 
they dispossessed the Ohio Company of 
the settlements which it had formed on 
the river of that name, alleging that 
the territory in question was part of the 
dominions of his most Christian Ma- 
jesty. It was on this occasion that 
George Washington, then a major in the 
Virginian militia, first drew his sword 
in hostility. At the head of 300 men 
he defeated a party of French ; but 
being afterwards attacked by a superior 
force, he was obliged to surrender, re- 
ceiving, however, honourable terms of 
capitulation. 

A war with France now seeming in- 
evitable, a general meeting of the go- 
vernors and leading members of the 
provincial assemblies was held at Albany, 
in the state of New York. This meeting 
proposed, as the result of its delibera- 
tions, " that a grand council should be 
formed of members, to be chosen by 
the provincial assemblies ; which council, 
together with a governor to be appoint- 
ed by the crown, should be authorized 
to make general laws, and also to raise 
money from all the colonies, for their 
common defence." The British govern- 
ment seem to have viewed this proposal 
with jealousy, as a step towards inde- 
pendence. They disapproved of the 
projected mode of the election of the 
members of the council ; nor were they 
satisfied with the plan of raising the re- 
quisite supplies by acts of the colonial 
legislatures ; and they proposed that 
"the governors of all the colonies, at- 
tended by one or two members of their 
respective councils, should, from time 
to time, concert measures for the whole 
colonies; erect forts and raise troops, 
with a power to draw upon the British 
treasury in the first instance ; but to be 
ultimately reimbursed by a tax to be laid 
on the colonies by act of parliament." 
Tills counter proposal was strenuously 
opposed by the colonists, who refused 
to trust their interests to governors and 
members of councils, since almost the 
whole of the former, and the great ma- 
jority of the latter, were nominated by 
the crown. As to the plan of raising 
taxes m the colonies by the authority of 
the British parliament, they rejected it 
in the most peremptory manner. In the 
discussions which took place on this oc- 
casion. Dr. Franklin took an active 
part, and in a letter to Mr. Shirley, go- 
vernor of Massachusetts, as Dr. Ramsay 
observes, " he anticipated the substance 
of a controversy, which for twenty years 



employed the pens, tongues, and swords 
of both countries." In his correspond- 
ence with the governor, the American 
patriot intimated his apprehension, "that 
excluding the people from all share in 
the choice of the grand council, would 
give extreme dissatisfaction, as well as 
the taxing them by Act of Parliament, 
where they have no representation. It 
is," observes he, with equal candour 
and good sense — " it is very possible 
that this general government might be 
as well and faithfully administered with- 
out the people as with them ; but where 
heavy l)urdens are to be laid upon them, 
it has been found useful to make it, as 
much as possible, their own act ; for 
they bear better, when they have, or 
think they have, some share in the direc- 
tion; and when any public measures 
are generally grievous, or even distaste- 
ful to the people, the wheels of govern- 
ment move more heavily." On the 
subject of the general characters of the 
governors of the colonies, to whom it was 
thus intended to delegate exh'aordinary 
powers, Dr. Franklin thus expressed 
himself, in terms well worthy the atten- 
tion of all ministers who are invested 
with the appointment of such function- 
aries : — " Governors often come to th« 
colonies merely to make fortunes, with 
which they intend to return to Britain; 
are not always men of the best abilities 
or integrity ; have many of them no 
estates here, nor any natural connection 
with us, that should make them heartily 
concerned for our welfare ; and might 
possibly be fond of raising and keeping 
up more forces than necessary, from the 
profits accruing to themselves, and to 
make provision for their friends and 
dependents." The opposition which 
their project experienced, induced the 
British government to withdraw it, and 
the colonies and the mother country 
for some time longer acted together in 
union and harmony. The consequence 
of this was, that under the vigorous ad- 
ministration of Mr. Pitt, the war, begun 
in 1756, was terminated by a treaty 
signed in 1763 ; according to the arti- 
cles of which, Canada was ceded to 
Great Britain by France, and the two 
Floridas by Spain, 

The North American colonies, in ge- 
neral, entered into the war of 1756 with 
such zeal, that some of them advanced 
funds for its prosecution to a greater 
amount than the quota which had been 
demanded of them by the British go- 
vernment. Others of them, .however, 
B 3 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



Ihe stale of IMaryland for instance, had, 
from local and accidental causes neg- 
lected to contribute their share to the 
requisite supplies. This circumstance, 
in all probability, led British statesmen 
to wish to establish a system, by means 
of which the resources of the colonies 
might be made available without the 
necessity of the concurrence of their 
local lec:islatures. Accordingly, Mr. 
Pitt is said to have told Dr. Franklin, 
that, "when the war closed, if he should 
be in the ministry, he would take mea- 
sures to prevent the colonies from 
having a power to refuse or delay the 
supplies which might be wanting for 
national purposes." This declaration 
is certainly at variance with the doc- 
trines which Mr. Pitt maintained when 
the question of colonial taxation was 
afterwards discussed in parliament. 
But at the latter period that great states- 
man was no longer minister; and he is 
not the only politician who has held 
different language when in and when 
out of power. 

§ 3. Eesolutions of the House of Com- 
mons, loth March, 17C4. 
"Whatever might be the motives of 
their conduct, the British ministry, in the 
year 170-1, began to manifest a narrow 
and jealous policy towards the North 
American colonies. For a long series 
of years the commerce of the eastern 
states had been most beneficially ex- 
tended to the Spanish and French colo- 
nies ; to which they transported great 
quantities of British manufactures, the 
profits on the sale of which were divided 
between themselves and their corre- 
spondents in the mother-country. This 
course of trade, though not repugnant 
to the spirit of the navigation laws, was 
contrary to their letter. Of this the 
British ministry took advantage ; and 
])y the activity of their revenue cutters, 
Ihey put a stop to the traffic in question, 
to the detriment and ruin of many mer- 
chants, not only in America, but also 
in Great Britain. In September 17G4, 
indeed, they caused an act to be passed, 
authorizing the trade between the North 
Americans and the French and Spanish 
colonics, but loading it with such duties 
as amounted to a prohibition, and pre- 
scribing that all offenders against the 
act should be prosecuted in the Court of 
Admiralty, where they were deprived of 
atrial by jury. As an accumulation of 
the ETi'ievances which the colonists felt 
froni this act, its pi'camble ponlained 



the following words of fearful omen ; 
" Whereas it is just and necessary that 
a revenue be raised in America, for 
defraying the expenses of defending, 
protecting, and securing the same, "We, 
the Commons, &c., towards raising the 
same, give and grant unto your Ma- 
jesty,"' &c. 

It is believed by competent judges 
that the colonists, however disposed to 
resent this encroachment on their con- 
stitutional rights, would have submitted 
without resistance to the provisions 
of the act as regulations of trade 
and commerce. But the ministry soon 
took a bolder step, by proceeding to im- 
pose a direct internal tax upon the colo- 
nies by authority of parliament. This 
measure was vindicated on the following 
grounds, that the pressure of the pay- 
ment of the interest of the national debt 
weighed so heavily on the British com- 
munity, that it was expedient that by 
every proper means this burden should 
be lightened ; that a considerable por- 
tion of this debt had been contracted in 
the furnishing of supplies for the defence 
of the North American colonies ; that it 
was just and reasonable that those colo- 
nies should contribute their proportion 
towards its liquidation; and that the 
authority of parliament was competent 
to bind them so to do. The idea of re- 
lieving the public burdens by the taxa- 
tion of distant colonies, was, of course, 
very popular throughout the British 
nation ; and so little was the right of 
parliament to impose such taxation at 
first questioned in Britain, that on the 
10th of March, 1764, a resolution to the 
following effect passed the House of 
Commons, without any remark, "That 
towards farther defraying the said ex- 
penses, it may be proper to charge cer- 
tain stamp dulies in the said colonies 
and plantations." Nothing, however, 
was immediately done in pursuance of 
this resolution, as ministers were in 
hopes that the apprehension of the pass- 
ing of an act founded on it would induce 
the colonists to raise a sum equivalent 
to the expected produce of such act, by 
bills passed in their respective legislative 
assemblies : but in these hopes they were 
disappointed. When intelligence of the 
resohition for laying a fax on stamps ar- 
rived in America, the colonists were filled 
with alaim and indignation. They de- 
clared internal taxation of the colonies 
l)y the authority of parliament to be an 
innovation and an infringement on their 
rights and liberties, If pariiamcnt was 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



5 



authorized to levy one tax upon them, 
it was authorized to levy a thousand. 
Where, then, was the security of their 
property, or what protection could they 
expect for their dearest interests, from a 
body of men who were ignorant of their 
circumstances ; between whom and them- 
selves there was no bond of sympathy, 
and who, indeed, had a direct interest in 
removing the weight of taxation from 
their own shoulders to those of the 
colonists ? They were entitled, they af- 
firmed, to all the rights of British sub- 
jects, of which the most valuable was 
exemption from all taxes, save those 
which should be imposed upon them by 
their own freely-chosen and responsible 
representatives. Influenced by the feel- 
ings and motives implied in these decla- 
rations, instead of passing tax bills, they 
voted petitions and remonstrances to 
parliament and to the throne. 

§ 4. Stamp Act, March 22, 1765. 
The supplications and complaints of 
the colonists were disregarded. In the 
month of March, 17G5, a bill for laying 
a duty on stamps in America was brought 
into the House of Commons by Mr. 
Grenville. This bill was supported by 
Mr. Charles Townsend, who is reported 
to have concluded his speech in its 
favour, in the following words : — " And 
now will these Americans — children 
planted by our care, nourished up by 
our indulgence, till they are grown to a 
degree of strength and opulence, and 
protected by our arms — will they grudge 
to contribute their mite to relieve us 
from the heavy weight of that burden 
which we lie under?" To this invidious 
appeal to the pride and the prejudices 
of the members of the House of Com- 
mons, Colonel Barre thus energetically 
replied : — " They planted by your care ! 
No ! your oppressions planted them in 
America. They fled from your tyranny 
to a then uncultivated and inhospitable 
country, where they exposed themselves 
to almost all the hardships to which 
human nature is liable, and, among 
others, to the cruelty of a savage foe, 
the most subtle, and, I will take upon me 
to say, the most formidable of any people 
upon the face of God's earth ; and yet, 
actuated by principles of true English 
liberty, they met all hardships "with 
pleasure, compared with those they suf- 
fered in their own country, from the 
hands of those who should have been 
their friends. They nourished up by 
your indulgence ! they grew by, your 



neglect of them. As soon as you began 
to care for them, that care was exercised 
in sending persons to rule them in one 
department and another, who were, 
perhaps, the deputies of deputies to some 
members of this house, sent to spy out 
their liberties, to misrepresent their ac- 
tions and to prey upon them— men whose 
behaviour,on many occasions, has caused 
the blood of those sons of liberty to 
recoil within tliem — men promoted to 
the highest seats of justice ; some who, 
to my" knowledge, were glad, l)y going 
to a foreign country, to escape being 
brought to the bar of a court of justice 
in their own. They protected by your 
arms ! they have nobly taken up arms 
in your defence, have exerted their va- 
lour, amidst their constant and laborious 
industry, for the defence of a country 
whose frontier was drenched in blood, 
while its interior parts yielded all its 
little savings to your emolument. And, 
believe me, remember I this day told 
you so, that same spirit of freedom 
which actuated that people at first, will 
accompany them still ; but prudence 
forbids me to explain myself further. 
God knows I do not at this time speak 
from any motives of party heat ; what I 
deliver are the genuine sentiments of my 
heart. However supei-ior to me, in ge- 
neral knowledge and experience, the 
respectable body of this House may be, 
yet I claim to know more of America 
than most of you, having seen, and been 
conversant with that country. The peo- 
ple, I believe, are as truly loyal as any 
subjects the king has, but a people jea- 
lous of their liberties, and who will vin- 
dicate them, if ever they should be 
violated. But the subject is too deli- 
cate — I will say no more." "; 
In the House of Lords the Bill met with 
no opposition ; and on the 22nd of March 
it received the royal assent. In adopting 
the stamp act as a method of taxing the 
colonies, ministers flattered themselves 
that the nullity of all transactions in 
which the stamps prescribed by the new 
law were not used would insure its exe- 
cution. In this confidence they post- 
poned the commencement of its opera- 
tion to the month of November, 17G7. 
This was a fatal error on their part. 
Had they prescribed its enforcement im- 
mediately on its arrival in America, the 
colonists might, in their consternation, 
have been awed into compliance with its 
provisions ; but the long interval be- 
tween its arrival and its execution, 
gave them ample time_to organize their 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



opposition against it. Of this they fully 
availed themselves. On the 28th of 
May, the assembly of Virginia passed 
strong resolutions against the stamp 
act, the substance of which was readily 
adopted by the other provincial legisla- 
tures. Popular pamphlets were pub- 
lished in abundance in rei)robation of 
the power thus assumed by the British 
parliament; and the proprietors of 
newspapers, whose journals were des- 
tined to be burdened with a stamp duty, 
raised against the obnoxious statute a 
cry which resounded from INIassachu- 
setts to Georgia. The oppressive mea- 
sures of ministers were canvassed in 
town-meetings and in every place of 
l)ublic resort ; and the limits of Ihe obe- 
dience due to the parent country were 
freely and boldly discussed in every com- 
pany. In these proceedings the colony 
of Virginia led the way, l)y passing in 
the house of burgesses, at the motion of 
]\Ir. Patrick Henry, the following reso- 
lutions :— 1st. " That the first adventu- 
rers — settlers of this his Majesty's colony 
and dominion of Virginia — brought with 
them, and transmitted to their posterity, 
and all other his ]\Iajesty's sul)jects, since 
inhabiting in this his Majesty's said 
colony, all the liberties, i)rivileges, and 
immunities that have at any time been 
held, enjoyed, and possessed by the 
people of Great Britain ;"— 2dly, " That 
by two royal charters, granted by King 
James I., the colonies aforesaid are de- 
clared to be entitled to all liberties, pri- 
vileges, and immunities of denizens, and 
natural subjects, to all intents and pur- 
poses, as if they had been abiding and 
born within the realm of England ;" — 
3dly, " That his Majesty's liege people 
of this his ancient colony have enjoyed 
the right of being thus governed by their 
own assembly, in the article of taxes 
and internal police, and that the same 
has never been forfeited or yielded up, 
but been constantly recognized by the 
king and people of Britain;" — 4thly, 
" Resolved, therefore, that the general 
assembly of this colony, together with his 
Majesty or his substitutes, have, in thfir 
representative capacity, the only exclu- 
sive right and power to lay taxes arid 
imposts upon the inhabitants of this 
colony, and that every attempt to vest 
such power in any other person or per- 
sons whatsoever tlian the general as- 
sembly aforesaid, is illegal, unconstitu- 
tional and unjust, and Initli a manifest 
tendency to destroy British as well as 
American liberty ;" — 5thly, " Resolved, 



that his Majesty's liege people, the in 
habitants of this colony, are not bound 
to yield obedience to any law or ordinance 
whatever, designed to impose any tax- 
ation whatever upon them, other than 
the laws or ordinances of the general 
assembly aforesaid ;" — Gthly, " Resolved, 
that any person who shall, by speaking or 
writing, assert or maintain that any per- 
son or persons, other than the general 
assembly of this colony, have any right 
or power to impose, or lay any taxation 
on the i)eople here, shall be deemed an 
enemy to this his Majesty's colony." 

The heat engendered by the de- 
bates, which in various colonies issued 
in resolutions to the tenor of the fore- 
going, at length broke out in acts of 
violence. The populace of Boston at- 
tacked the houses of the officers of go- 
vernment, and destroyed their furniture. 
Similar excesses took place in some of 
the other colonies ; and the general an- 
tipathy of the public against the act 
sheltered the perpetrators of these out- 
rages from punishment. 

These ebullitions were followed by 
more regular and more effective pro- 
ceedings on the part of the American 
patriots. On the Gth of June the as- 
sembly of Massachusetts, sensible of the 
necessity of union to the maintenance of 
their rights and liberties, invited the 
other colonial legislative bodies to send 
deputies to a general congress to be 
holden at New York on the second 
Tuesday of October, for the purpose of 
deliberating on the steps necessary to be 
taken in the existing circumstances. 
This summons was readily answered by 
all the colonies, except those of Virgi- 
ginia. North Carolina, and Georgia, 
which, however, heartily approved of 
the i)urposed measure, but were pre- 
vented l)y their respective governors 
from meeting for the purpose of electing 
deputies to attend the congress. The 
representatives of nine colonies met at 
the time and place appointed, and after 
mature deliberation agreed upon a de- 
claration of their rights and a statement 
of their grievances, and also drew up 
and signed petitions to the king and to 
both iiouses of parliament. Similar 
steps were taken individually by the 
colonies which had been prevented from 
sending deputies to the congress. 

§ 5. Repeal of the Stamp Act, 1 0th 
March, 17G6. — A^ew attempt at tax- 
ation, and resistance to the same. 

The first of November, the day on which 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



the stamp act was to commence its 
operation, was ushered in throus^hout 
the colonies by the funereal tolling of 
bells. In the course of the clay various 
processions and public exliibitions were 
made, all indicative of the abhorrence in 
which the detested statute was univer- 
sally held. By common consent, the act 
was utterly disregarded, and not a stamp 
was bought to legalize any transaction. 
Nor did the Americans content them- 
selves with this sullen opposition to the 
measures of ministers. They entered 
into solemn resolutions not to import 
any British manufactured goods till the 
stamp act was repealed ; and an associa- 
tion was formed to oppose the act by 
force of arms. The latter step had no 
immediate effect ; but the non-importa- 
tion agreement brought such distress 
upon the British manufacturers, that 
they besieged parliament with petitions 
against the measures which had been 
adopted for the taxing of the colonies. 
Thus assailed by the clamours of the 
colonists and by the complaints of the 
suffering British merchants, his Ma- 
jesty's government, at the head of which 
was now placed the Marquess of Rock- 
ingham, for a time wavered at the 
view of the unpleasant alternative which 
was set before them, of either repealing 
or enforcing the obnoxious statute. The 
former measure was grating to the pride 
of the nation at large, and the latter 
evidently involved in its prosecution the 
danger of a civil war. During this period 
of hesitation, the state of the colonies 
was frequently discussed in parliament. 
It was, in particular, the prominent sub- 
ject of debate at the opening of the 
session on the 17th of December, 1765. 
On this occasion Mr, Pitt seems to have 
exerted all the energies of his powerful 
mind to avert the mischiefs which he 
beheld impending over his country. " It 
is a long time, Mr. Speaker," said he, 
" since I have attended in parliament. 
When the resolution was taken in the 
house to tax America, I was ill in bed. 
If I could have endured to have been 
carried in my bed, so great was the agi- 
tation of my mind for the consequences, 
I would have solicited some kind hand 
to have laid me down on this floor, to 
have borne my testimony against it. 
It is now an act that has passed; I 
would speak with decency of every act 
of this house, but I must beg the in- 
dulgence of the house to speak of it 
with freedom. 1 hope a day may 
be soon appointed to consider the 



state of the nation with respect to Ame- 
rica. I hope gentlemen will come to 
this debate with all the temper and 
impartiality that his Majesty recom- 
mends, and the importance of the subject 
requires — a subject of greater import- 
ance than ever engaged the attention of 
this House, that sul3ject only excepted, 
when, nearly a century ago, it was the 
question whether you yourselves were 
to be bound or free. In the mean time, 
as I cannot depend upon health for any 
future day, such is the nature of my 
infirmities, I will beg to say a few words 
at present, leaving the justice, the equity, 
the policy, the expediency of the act to 
another time. I will only speak to one 
point — a point which seems not to have 
been generally understood — I mean to 
the right. Some gentlemen seem to 
have considered it as a point of honour. 
If gentlemen consider it in that light, 
they leave all measures of right and 
wrong, to follow a delusion that may 
lead to destruction. It is my opinion 
that this kingdom has no right to lay a 
tax upon the colonies. At the same 
time I assert the authority of this 
kingdom over the colonies to be so- 
vereign and supreme in every circum- 
stance of government and legislation 
whatsoever. They are the subjects of 
this kingdom, equally entitled with your- 
selves to all the natural rights of man- 
kind, and the peculiar privileges of 
Englishmen. Equally bound by its 
laws, and equally participating of the 
constitution of this free country, the 
Americans are the sons — not the baa-- 
tards of England. Taxation is no part 
of the governing or legislative power. 
The taxes are a voluntary gift and gi-ant 
of the Commons alone. In legislation 
the three estates of the realm are alike 
concerned ; but the concurrence of the 
peers and the crown to a tax is only 
necessary to close with the form of a 
law. The gift and grant is of the Com- 
mons alone. In ancient days the crown, 
the barons, and the clergy possessed the 
lands. In those days the barons and 
clergy gave and granted to the crown. 
They gave and granted what was their 
own. At present, since the discovery 
of America, and other circumstances 
admitting, the Commons are become 
the proprietors of the land. The crown 
has divested itself of its great estates. The 
church (God bless it !) has but a pittance. 
The property of the Lords, compared 
with that of the Commons, is as a drop 
of water in the ocean ; and this house 



8 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



represents those Commons, the pro- 
prietors of the lands ; and tliose pro- 
prietors virtually represent the rest of 
the inhabitants. ,When, therefore, in 
this house we tjive and grant, we give 
and grant what is our own. But in an 
American tax what do we do ? * We, 
your Majesty's Commons of Great 
Britain give and grant to your Majesty' 
— what ? — our own property ? — No ! 
We give and grant to your Majesty the 
property of your Majesty's Commons of 
America ! It is an absurdity in terras." 
" There is," said Mr. Pitt, towards the 
close of his speech — " there is an idea in 
some, that the colonies are virtually 
represented in this House. I would fain 
know by whom an American is repre- 
sented here ? Is he represented by any 
knight of the shire in any county in this 
kingdom ? Would to God that re- 
spectable representation was augmented 
to a greater number ! Or will you tell 
him that he is represented by any repre- 
sentative of a borough — a borough 
which, perhaps, no man ever saw. This 
is what is called the rotten part of the 
constitution. It cannot continue a cen- 
tury — if it does not drop it must be 
amputated. The idea of a virtual re- 
presentation of America in this House 
is the most contemptible idea that ever 
entered into the head of a man." Mr. 
Pift concluded by declaring it as his 
opinion, that whilst the Americans were 
possessed of the constitutional right to 
tax themselves, Great Britain, as the 
supreme governing and legislative 
power, had always bound the colonies 
by her laws, by her regulations and 
restrictions in trade, in navigation, in 
manufactures, in every thing except that 
of taking their money out of their pockets 
without their consent. Of this broad 
assertion, of the extent of British 
power over the colonies, Mr. Grenville, 
the patron of the Stamp Act, took ad- 
vantage, and maintained that there was 
no difference in principle between the 
right to impose external and internal 
taxation. He asserted that the protec- 
tion from time to time afforded to Ame- 
rica by Britain was a just ground of 
claim to obedience on the part of the 
latter from the former, and aslced wlien 
America was emancipated from the al- 
legiance which she owed to the parent 
state? Provoked by Mr. Grenville's 
sophistry, and irritated l^y his insolence 
of tone and manner, Mr. Pitt gave 
utterance to the following declaration — 
a declaration, no doubt, well calculated 



to animate the spirit of freedom on the 
other side of the Atlantic. " The gen- 
tleman tells us that America is obstinate; 
America is almost in open rebellion. I 

REJOICE THAT AMERICA HAS RESISTED. 

Three millions of people, so dead to all 
the feelings of liberty, as voluntarily to 
submit to be slaves, would have been fit 
instruments to make slaves of the rest 
of their fellow subjects." 

Thus did Mr. Pitt plead the cause of 
the colonies with all the fervour of com- 
manding eloquence. In the course of a 
few days the same cause was maintained 
by Dr. Franklin, on the plain and un- 
adorned, but convincing principles of 
common sense; In the month of Fe- 
bruary, that celebrated philosopher was 
examined at the bar of the House of 
Commons touching the state of Ame- 
rica, and the probable effect upon the 
inhabitants of that country of the 
imposition of stamp duties. In this 
examination he evinced an accurate and 
extensive knowledge of facts — of facts 
which were calculated to convince any 
reasonable mind that it was morally 
impossible to enforce the Stamp Act in 
the colonies; and that an attempt to 
effect that object would be productive 
of the worst consequences to the 
prosperity of Britain. The train of 
interrogatories furnished, of course, by 
himself, afforded him an opportunity of, 
stating his opinions in his accustomed 
clear and simple manner; and the 
cross-examination which he underwent 
on the part of members hostile to the 
claims of the colonies, gave an occasion 
for the display of that coolness of temper 
and promptiude of perception by which 
he was distinguished. His examination 
concluded with the following pithy ques- 
tions and replies : — Q. What used to 
be the pride of the Americans? A. To 
indulge in the fashions and manufac- 
tures of Great Britain. Q. Wliat is now 
their pride? A. To wear their old 
clothes over again till they can make 
new ones. '{ 

The distresses of the commercial and 
manufacturing interests now co-ope- 
rating with parliamentary arguments 
and eloquence, the new ministers, who 
were not so deeply committed as their 
predecessors on the subject of tiie Stamp 
Act, at length made up their mind to 
give way. Before the examination of 
Dr. Franklin, indeed, viz. on the 21st of 
January, 17GG, a motion had, under 
tlieir auspices, been made in the Com- 
mons in a committee of the whole 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



House to the foUowino- effect': — " That 
it is the opinion of the committee, that 
the House be moved, that leave be 
given to bring in a biU to repeal an act 
passed in the last session of parliament, 
entitled ' An Act for gi'anting and ap- 
plying certain Stamp Duties, and other 
Duties in the British Colonies and 
Plantations in America towards farther 
defraying the expenses of defending, 
protecting, and securing the same, 
and for amending such parts of the 
several acts of parliament relating to 
the trade and revenues of the said co- 
lonies and plantations, as direct the 
manner of determining and recovering 
the penalties and forfeitures therein 
mentioned.' " To this resolution the 
advocates of the obnoxious statute 
moved an amendment, by which it was 
proposed to leave out the word " repeal," 
and insert " explain and amend." But 
this amendment was rejected by a ma- 
jority of 118. 

On the 24th of February, the above- 
mentioned proceedings were confirmed 
by the passing a resolution similar to 
tlie foregoing one, but with a view, no 
doubt, of saving the dignity of the na- 
tion and of his Majesty's government, 
this second resolution was accompanied 
by others, approving of the conduct of 
such of the colonists as had used their 
best exertions for the enforcement of the 
Stamp Act in America ; indemnifying 
those " who by reason of the tumults 
and outrages in North America had not 
been able to procure stamped paper since 
the passing of the Act for laying certain 
duties on stamps in the colonies, and 
had incurred penalties and forfeitures, 
by writing, ingrossing, or printing on 
paper, veUura, or parchment, not duly 
stamped, as required by the said Act." 
A Bill, founded on these resolutions, 
was accordingly brought into the 
House. This Bill, after warm debates, 
passed both Houses of Parliament, and 
received the Royal Assent on the 16th 
of March, 1766. The ostensible grounds 
for the adoption of this measure, as ex- 
pressed by the preamble to the Act, was 
the inexpediency of the tax on stamps, 
and by way of guardedly reserving 
the main point in question, namely, 
the right of the British parliament 
to impose internal taxes on the colo- 
nies, the Repeal Act was accompanied 
by a declaratory act in which it was 
asserted, " that the Parliament had, 
and of right ought to have, power to 
bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever," 



This broad and unqualified claim on the 
part of the British legislature was little 
calculated to satisfy such of the American 
colonists as had maintained the struggle 
against the British ministry upon deep 
and well considered principle. These, 
no doubt, regarded it with suspicion and 
dislike, as containing the germ of future 
encroachments upon their rights and 
privileges. But it seems to have made 
little impression upon the minds of the 
American public. In their joy for the 
repeal of the Stamp Act, and in their 
eagerness to resume their ordinary oc- 
cupations, the colonists regarded it as a 
harmless sally of wounded pride, and 
cheerfully renewed their commercial in- 
tercourse with the mother country. 

But the evil genius of Britain still 
fostered in the cabinet the idea of 
raising a revenue in America. Lord 
Rockingham having been superseded 
by the Duke of Grafton, Charles Town- 
send, the then chancellor of the ex- 
chequer, brought into the House of 
Commons, in the year 1767, a bill, 
which was quickly passed into a law, 
for granting duties in the British colo- 
nies on glass, paper, painter's colours, 
and tea. This proceeding again kindled 
a blaze throughout the provinces. In 
their estimation, it proved that the 
declaratory act was not intended to be 
a dead letter, and it gave rise to bold 
and acute discussions as to the dis- 
tinction between tax bills and bills for 
the regulation of trade. To add to the 
alarm of the colonists, a board of com- 
missioners of customs was established 
at Boston, which step convinced thera 
that the British government intended to 
harass them with a multiplicity of 
fiscal oppressions. They therefore again 
had recourse to petitions, remonstrances, 
and non-importation agreements. The 
seizure of the sloop Lil:)erty, belonging 
to Mr. Hancock, a popular leader^ for 
an infringement of the revenue laws, 
incited the populace of Boston to re- 
newed acts of violence, which drove the 
commissioners of tlie customs to take 
shelter in Castle William. To sup- 
press this spirit of insubordination, his 
Majesty's ministers stationed some 
armed vessels in the harbour, and 
quartered two regiments of foot in the 
town of Boston. The intention of the 
British government to send this force 
to Boston having been announced, the 
select men of ninety-six towns of the 
state of IMassachusetts, met at Faneuil 
hall, in that town ; but this assembly. 



10 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



which had excilerl great alarm among 
the friends of government, merely re- 
commended moderate measures, and 
then dissolved itself. The day after the 
breaking up of this convention, the 
troops arrived, and landed without op- 
position under the protection of the guns 
of the armed vessels in the harbour. 

Tiie intelligence of the refractory 
spirit thus manifested by the inhabitants 
of ]5oston, produced such irritation in 
the British parliament, that in February, 
17C9, both Houses concurred in an 
address to his Majesty, prompting him 
to vigorous measures against all persons 
guilty of what they were pleased to 
denominate treasonable acts ; and be- 
seeching him, in pursuance of the 
powei's contained in an obsolete statute 
of the 35th of Henry VHT., to seize the 
offenders, and cause them to be tried 
by a special commission within the 
realm of Great Britain. This im- 
prudent suggestion was encountered by 
strong resolutions on the part of the 
provincial assemblies; and the colonists 
again had recourse to non-importation 
agreements, and, in some instances, 
sent back to Great Britain cargoes of 
goods which had actually arrived. 
Thus the distresses of the British manu- 
facturers were renewed ; and ministers 
were induced, by their earnest remon- 
strances, to repeal all the newly 
imposed duties, except that on tea. 
This reservation being a practical as- 
sertion of the right of Parliament to 
impose internal taxes on the American 
States, was very odious to the colonists, 
who, however, relaxed their associations 
so far as to allow the importation of 
all articles except tea, the use of which 
commodity they forebore, or supplied 
themselves with it by smuggling. 

§6. Petition and Remonstrance, 1773. 
Thus was tranquillity restored to most 
of the colonies. But the presence of the 
troops in the town of Boston was a 
perpetual source of irritation in the 
province of Massachusetts. The Bos- 
tonians regarded the soldiers with an 
evil eye, as the instruments of tyranny 
designed to be used for the destruction 
of their liberties, and availed themselves 
of every oi)portunity which occurred to 
annoy and insult them. In resisting 
a violent act of aggression, a party of 
the militaiy were obliged to fire on the 
populace, of whom three were killed, 
and five dangerously wounded. In times 
of public excitement, nothing is more 



irritating to the populace, and nothing 
more painful to men of cultivated minds, 
than the interference of the military. 
When that interference is attended with 
fatal consequences, the frenzy of the 
people rises to the utmost height. Such 
was the case with the inhabitants of 
Boston. On hearing of the melancholy 
event, some obscure individuals caused 
the drums to beat to arms, and the 
townsmen assembled to the amount of 
some thousands. They were, however, 
happily appeased by the intervention of 
several patriotic leaders, whose zeal was 
allayed by prudence, and in consequence 
of whose interference with the Lieute- 
nant-Governor the obnoxious troops 
were sent out of the town. Artful 
means were, however, resorted to for 
the purpose of keeping alive their resent- 
ment. On the morning of the day ap- 
l^ointed for the burial of the slain most 
of the shops in Boston were shut. The 
bells of that town, of Charleston, and 
Roxburg, rung out muffled peals. Mourn- 
ful processions moving from the houses 
of the murdered dead, as they who had 
fallen by the fire of the military were 
denominated, united with the corpses at 
the spot where they had met their fate. 
Here, forming into a body, they marched 
six a-breast, followed by the carriages 
of the gentry, through the main streets 
to the place of interment. 

Immediately after the affray which 
was productive of such sad conse- 
quences. Captain Preston, the officer 
who commanded the party who had 
fired upon the people, had been commit- 
ted to prison, together with a number 
of ])rivate soldiers who were implicated 
in that act. The firing had taken place 
on the fjth of March, and though the 
trial of the accused did not take i)lace 
till the following November, there might i 
have been reason to apprehend that, in ' 
appearing, for a decision on a case of 
life and death, before aBoston jury, they 
would run the greatest hazard of falling 
victims to infuriated prejudice. But, in this 
instance, the Bostonians gave evidence 
of their English descent. In capital 
cases, Englishmen, in modern times at 
least, have almost uniformly exercised 
an impartial administration of the law. 
Such was the temper which was mani- 
fested by the court and jury on the trial 
of Captain Preston and his comrades. 
After a patient investigation of the 
case, all the prisoners were acquitted of 
murder, and two, being foimd guilty of 
manslaughter, were immediately burnt 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



11 



in the hand and dischar2;ed. It is a fact 
not to be omi'ted, that they were de- 
fended, and zealously defended, by the 
celebrated John Adams and Josiah 
Quincy, than whom there did not exist 
more ardent advocates of the cause of 
American freedom. The former of 
these gentlemen, in warning the jury 
against giving way to popular impres- 
sions, expressed himself in the following 
energetic terms : — " The law, in all vicis- 
situdes of government, fiuctuations of 
the passions, or flights of enthusiasm, 
will preserve a steady, undeviating 
course : it will not bend to the uncertain 
wishes, imaginations, and wanton tem- 
pers of men. To use the words of a 
great and worthy man, a patriot and a 
hero, an enlightened friend to mankind, 
and a martyr to liberty — I mean Alger- 
non Sidney — who, from his earliest in- 
fancy, sought a tranquil retirement under 
the shadow of the tree of liberty, with 
his tontjue, his pen, and his sword, — 
' The law,' says he, ' no passion can dis- 
turb. It is void of desire and fear, 
lust and anger. It is mens sine affectu ; 
written reason ; retaining some measure 
of the divine perfection. It does not en- 
join that which pleases a weak, frail 
man, but, without any regard to persons, 
commands that which is good, and 
punishes evil in all, whether rich or 
poor, high or low. It is deaf, inexorable, 
inflexible.' Yes," said Mr. Adams, 
" on the one hand, it is inexorable to 
the cries and lamentations of the pri- 
soners ; on the other, it is deaf, deaf as 
an adder, to the clamours of the popu- 
lace." 

Notwithstanding this firmness on the 
part of tRe counsel for the prisoners, 
and notwithstanding the impartiality of 
the jury and of the judge, which latter, 
in his summing up on the trial of Cap- 
tain Preston, did not hesitate to say, — 
" I feel myself deeply affected that this 
affair turns out so much to the shame 
of 1 he town in general," ministers took 
advantage of the disturbed state of the 
public mind, by making it a pretext for 
rendering the governor and judges of 
Massachusetts independent of the pro- 
vince, by transferring the payment of 
their salaries from the assembly to the 
crown. In consequence of this pro- 
ceeding. Governor Hutchinson, who had 
never been popular, became still more 
than ever an object of dislike. Such 
being the disposition of the people of 
Massachusetts towards their chief ma- 
gistrate,^jtheir indignation against him 



was raised to the highest pitch in the year 
] 773 by an incident, the consequences of 
which had a most unhappy aspect on the 
fortunes of Great Britain. The servants 
of government naturally look with a 
jealous eye upon the bold assertors of 
popular rights ; and as naturally imagine 
that they shall most gratify their masters 
by the recommendation of a steady 
and active resistance against what they 
are apt to deem the encroachments of po- 
pular claims. In this spirit Mr. Hutchin- 
son and Mr. Oliver, the former the Go- 
vernor and the latter Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor of the colony of Massachusetts, had 
addressed some letters to individuals 
who had put them into the hands of his 
Majesty's ministers, in which letters 
they vituperated the American patriots, 
called upon government to adopt more 
vigorous measures than they had 
hitherto done in support of their au- 
thority, recommended restraints upon 
liberty and an infringement of charters, 
and even the " taking off" of the prin- 
cipal opponents to British domination. 
These letters having come into the pos- 
session of Dr. Franklin, he thought it 
his duty, as agent of the House of Re- 
presentatives of Massachusetts, to send 
them to his constituents. Their perusal 
excited, as might have been expected, 
the indignation of the Assembly, the 
members of which unanimously resolved, 
•' That the tendency and design of the 
said letters was to overthrow the con- 
stitution of this government, and to in- 
troduce arbitrary power into the pro- 
vince ;'' and, moreover, passed a vote, 
" that a petition should be immediately 
sent to the King, to remove the Gover- 
nor, Hutchinson, and the Lieutenant- 
Governor, Oliver, for ever from the go- 
vernment of the province." Dr. Frank- 
lin, after having transmitted the petition 
in question to Lord Dartmouth, the 
then Colonial Secretary, appeared to 
support it in person at the Council 
Chamber on the 1 1th of January, 1 774 ; 
but, finding that he was to be encoun- 
tered by counsel employed on behalf of 
the accused functionaries, he prayed 
that the hearing of the case might be 
adjourned for the space of three weeks, 
which was granted him. In the mean 
time speculation was all alive as to the 
means by which Dr. Franklin had ob- 
tained possession of the letters ; and a 
Mr. Whateley and a Mr. Temple, both 
connected with the colonial office, mutu- 
ally suspecting each other of the unfaith- 
ful communication of them, a corre- 



12 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



spondence took place between those 
gentlemen, which ended in a duel, in 
which Mr. Whaleley was dangerously 
wounded. For the prevention of further 
mischief of this sort. Dr. Franklin pub- 
lished, in tjie " Public Advertiser," a 
letter exonerating both the combatants 
from blame in this case, and taking the 
whole responsibility of the procuring the 
documents on himself. \Yhen the Doc- 
tor appeared again before the council in 
support of the Massachusetts petition, he 
was assailed by Mr. Wedderburne, who 
acted for the Governor and the Lieutenant 
Governor, in terms of most elaborate 
abuse. " The letters," said the caustic 
advocate, "could not have come to Dr. 
Franklin 'by fair means. The writers 
did not give them to him, nor yet did 
the deceased correspondent. Nothing, 
then, will acquit Dr. Franldin of the 
charge of obtaining them by fraudulent 
or corrupt means, for the most malig- 
nant of purposes ; unless he stole them 
from the person that stole them. This 
argument is irrefragable. I hope, my 
Lords, you will mark and brand the man, 
for the honour of this country, of Europe, 
and of mankind. Private correspond- 
ence has hitherto been held sacred in 
times of the greatest party rage, not 
only in politics, but religion. He has 
forfeited all the respect of societies and 
of men. Into what companies will he 
hereafter go with an unembarrassed 
face, or the honest intrepidity of virtue ? 
]\Ien will watch him with a jealous eye 
— they will hide their papers from him, 
and lock up their escrutoirs. He will 
henceforth esteem it a libel to be called 
a man of letters — homo trium litera- 
runi^. But he not only took away the 
letters from one brother, but kept him- 
self concealed till he nearly occasioned 
the murder of the other. It is impos- 
sible to read his account, expressive of 
the coolest and most deliberate malice, 
without horror. Amidst these tragical 
events, of one person nearly murdered, 
of another answerable for the issue, 
of a worthy governor hurt in his dear- 
est interests, the fate of America in sus- 
pense, — here is a man, who, with the 
utmost insensibility of remorse, stands 
up and avows himself (he author of all. 
I can compare it only to Zanga in Dr. 
Young's Revenge — 

' Know, tlien, 'twas— I ; 

I forged the letter ; I disposed the iiicturc. 
1 hated, I despised, and 1 destroy.' 

I ask, my Lords, whether the re- 

* Fur, thief. 



vengeful temper attributed, by poetic 
fiction only, to the bloody African, is not 
surpassed by the coolness and apathy of 
the wily American ? " Less fervid elo- 
quence than this of Mr. Wedderburne's 
would have been sufficient to sway the 
decision of the council, who declared 
the petition of the Massachusetts 
Assembly to be scandalous and vexa- 
tious. Franklin was dismissed from 
the office which he held of postmaster- 
general of the colonies. Wedderburne 
was afterwards advanced in his profes- 
sion till he attained the chancellorship 
and a peerage; and George III. lost 
thirteen provinces. Till this moment 
Franklin had laboured for conciliation ; 
but though, during the time of the heai-- 
ing of the arguments before the council, 
he preserved his countenance unmoved, 
the insults of Wedderburne so exas- 
perated his feelings, that when he left 
the council-room he declared to his 
friend Dr. Priestley, who accompanied 
him on this memorable occasion, that he 
would never again put on the clothes 
which he then wore till he had received 
satisfaction. He dressed himself in this 
" well-saved" suit when he signed at 
Paris the treaty which for ever deprived 
the crown of Great Britain of its domi- 
nion over [the United States. It is only 
within these seven years that it has 
been ascertained, that governor Hut- 
chinson's letters were put into Frank- 
lin's hands by a Dr. Williamson, who, 
without any suggestion on his part, had 
procured them by stratagem from the 
office where they had been deposited*. , 

§ 7. Boston Port Act, and Repeal of 

the Charter of Massachusetts. 
The determination of the colonists" to 
use no tea which had paid duty was so 
generally persevered in, that seventeen 
millions of pounds of that commodity 
were accumulated in the warehouses of 
the East India Company. With a view 
of getting rid of this stock, and at the 
same time of aiding ministers in their 
project of taxing the North American 
colonies, the Company proposed that a 
law should be passed authorizing them 
to receive a drawback of the full import 
duties on all teas which they should 
export. To this proposal the British 
government agreed, in hopes that, as 
by this arrangement the colonists, on 
paying the duty of three-pence per 
pound on the landing of the tea in their 

* Tills curious fact is stated, with many parti- 
culars, in a Memoir of Dr. Williamsoii, by Dr. 
Uosack, of New York, 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



i; 



harbours, would be able to buy it at a 
cheaper rate than they could do from 
the contraband dealers, their patriotic 
scruples would be silenced by their 
love of gain. In this notion, however, 
ministers were mistaken. Strong resolu- 
tions were entered into throughout the 
provinces, declaring, that whosoever 
should aid or abet in landing or vending 
the tea which was expectedr ought to be 
regarded as an enemy to his country ; 
and that committees should be appointed 
to wait on the agents of the East India 
Company, and to demand from them 
a resignation of their appointments. 
Terrified by these proceedings, a great 
majority of the consignees comphed with 
this requisition ; but in Massachusetts 
these agents, being the I'elatives and 
friends of the governor, and expecting 
to be supported by the military force 
stationed in Boston, were determined to 
land and offer for sale the obnoxious 
commodity. As the tea ships were 
lying in the harbour, ready to land their 
cargoes, the leading patriots, appre- 
hensive that, if the tea were once ware- 
housed, the opposition of the people to 
its sale might gradually give way, and 
deeming decisive measures absolutely 
necessary in the present circumstances, 
boarded the vessels, and emptied the tea 
chests into the water. 

The British ministry rejoiced that this 
outrage had occurred, and that it had 
occurred in the town of Boston, which 
they had long regarded as the focus of 
sedition, from whence a spirit of .resist- 
ance to British authority was diffused 
throughout the colonies. It now lay at 
their mercy, as having been guilty of a 
flagrant delinquency, and as meriting 
exemplary punishment. Determined 
to chastise its mutinous inhabitants 
for their numerous delinquencies, and 
to bend them to submission. Lord 
North, Ihen prime minister, on the 
14th of March, made a motion in the 
House of Commons, " That leave be 
given to bring in a bill for the imme- 
diate removal of the officers concerned 
in the collection and management of his 
Majesty's duties and customs from the 
town of Boston, in the province of 
Massachusetts bay in North America ; 
and to discontinue the landing and dis- 
charging, lading and shipping of goods, 
wares, and merchandize, at the said town 
of Boston, or within the harbour 
thereof." The deep silence which fol- 
lowed the annunciation of this motion 



marked the" sense of the House 'as to 
the serious consequences which it in- 
volved ; but it met with no opposition, 
except on the part of Alderman Saw- 
bridge and Mr. Dowdswell. Even Co- 
lonel Barrc, the great advocate of the 
rights of the colonies, spoke in favour of 
it, and it passed without a division. No 
debate occurred on the first reading ' of 
the Bill on the 18th of March ; and the 
second reading, which took place on the 
twenty-first of the same month, was 
only interrupted by a few adverse re- 
marks made by Mr. R. Fuller. On the 
twenty-fifth, a petition was presented 
against the bill, signed by several na- 
tives of North America, at that time 
resident in London ; after the reading of 
which the House discussed its provisions 
in Committee. Mr. Fuller availed him- 
self of this occasion to move, that, in- 
stead of the closing of the port of Boston, 
which measure, he argued, would be 
detrimental, not only to American, but 
also to British interests, a fine should be 
imposed on the offending community. 
Tliis amendment was opposed by the 
prime minister, who said, that he was no 
enemy to lenient measures, but that it 
was evident that, with respect to the in- 
habitants of Boston, resolutions of cen- 
sure and warning would avail nothing — 
that it was then the time to stand out, 
to defy them, to proceed with firmness 
and without fear, and that they would 
never reform till severe measures were 
adopted. With a lamentable want of 
foresight his lordship thus proceeded: 
" I hope that we every one feel that this 
is the common cause of us all ; and una- 
nimity will go half way to the obedience 
of the people of Boston to this bill. The 
honourable gentleman tells us, that tlie 
act will be a piece of waste paper, and 
that an army will be required to put it 
into execution. The good of this act is, 
that four or five frigates will do the 
business without any military force." 
With a similar blindness to futurity. Mi-. 
Charles Jenkinson exclaimed, " We 
have gone into a very expensive war for 
the attainment of America; the struggle 
which we shall now have to keep it\vill 
be of little expense." Thus rash and 
short-sighted are statesmen when their 
passions obtain the mastery over their 
judgment ! After a lengthened debate, 
in the course of which the bill was 
powerfully opposed by Mr. Burke and 
Mr. Dowdswell, it passed the Commons 
with but very few negatives; and havin 



14 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



been humed through the House of 
Lords, it finally received the Royal 
Assent, and was passed into a law. 

The Boston Port Act was speedily 
followed l)y still more alarming mea- 
sures. The free constitutions of the 
American provinces had presented strong 
impediments against the views of his 
Majesty and his ministers. Among 
these, the charter of Massachusetts was 
pre-eminent for the liberality of its prin- 
ciples. Being well aware, that whilst 
tliis charter subsisted he could never 
effectuate his designs. Lord North de- 
termined to set it aside. When Charles 
II. deemed it necessary for his purposes 
to abrogate the franchises of the city of 
London, and of other corporate towns in 
England, he attacked their charters by 
quo warrantos ; but the process of law 
is tedious, and in this case the issue of 
legal proceedings might be uncertain. 
The minister, therefore, decided upon 
bringing the omnipotence of parliament 
to bear upon the contumacious inhabi- 
tants of the offending colony. Accord- 
ingly, on the 28th of March, 1774, on 
the allegation that an executive power 
was wanting in tlie province of Massa- 
chusetts, and that it was highly neces- 
sary to strengthen the hands of its ma- 
gistracy, he proposed to brmg in a bill, 
authorizing the Governor for the time 
being to act as a justice of the peace, 
and empowering him to appoint at his 
will and pleasure the officers throughout 
the whole civil authority, such as the 
provost mai-shal and the sheriifs, to 
which latter officers was to be delegated 
the nomination of juries, who had for- 
merly been elected by the freeholders 
and inhabitants of the several towns of 
the province. It was also his lord- 
ship's intention to vest in the crown the 
appointment of the council, which, under 
the provisions of the ancient constitution, 
had heretofore been elected by the gene- 
ral court. The latter provision was in- 
troduced into the bill at the suggestion 
of Lord George G(u-maine, who was 
pleased to say that " he would not have 
men of a mercantile icast every day col- 
lecting themselves together, and debathig 
about political matters ; he would have 
them follow their occupations as mer- 
chants, and not consider themselves as 
ministers of that country." In pursu- 
ance of this suggestion, which was 
thankfully received by f.he premier, there 
■vyere added to the bill severe restric- 
tions on the holding of public town's 



meetings. Leave was given to bring in 
the bill without a single objection, ex- 
cept on the j)art of Mr. Byng, the Mem- 
ber for IMiddlesex; and though, in its 
progress through the House of Com- 
mons, many weighty arguments were 
urged against it, especially by Governor 
Pounall and Mr. Dowdswell, it was 
carried on the second of May by a ma- 
jority of 239 against 64 voices. In the 
House of Lords it was severely animad- 
verted upon ; but a division of 92 to 20 
evinced that the majority of the peers of 
the realm entered heartily into the 
views of the ministry as to coercing the 
American colonies. The Duke of Rich- 
mond, however, and eleven other peers, 
protested against it for the following 
reasons, " Because, before the rights of 
the colony of Massachusetts Bay, which 
they derive from their charter, are taken 
away, the definite legal offence by which 
a forfeiture of their charter is incurred 
ought to have been clearly stated, and 
the parties heard in their own defence ; 
and the mere celerity of a decision against 
it will not reconcile the minds of 
the people to that mode of govern- 
ment which is to be established upon its 
ruins. On the general allegations of a 
declaratory preamble, the rights of any 
public body may be taken away, and any 
visionary scheme of government substi- 
tuted in their place. I3y this bill, the 
governor and council are invested with 
dangerous powers, unknown to the Bri- 
tish constitution, and with which the 
King himself is not intrusted. By the 
appointment and removal of the slierdf 
at pleasure, they have the means of 
returning such juries as may best suit 
with the gi-a1ification of their passions 
and their interests ; the life, liberty, and 
])roperty of the subject are put into 
their hands without control. The weak, 
inconsistent, and injudicious measures of 
the ministry have given new force to the 
distractions of America, which, on the 
repeal of the Stamp Act, were su!j- 
siding; have revived dangerous ques- 
tions, and gradually estranged the affec- 
tions of the colonies from the moth(jr- 
country. To i-ender the colonies perma- 
nently advantageous, they must be satis- 
fied with their condition, that satisfaction 
there is no chance of restoring, but by 
recurring to the principles on which the 
repeal of the Stamp Act was founded." 
Tlie Boston Port Act, and the Act for 
Remodelling the Constitution of Massa- 
chusetts, werc_ strong and severe raea- 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



i; 



sures — measures which, it might have 
been conceived, would have set at rest 
any common jealousy of popular rights, 
and satisfied any ordinary thirst for ven- 
geance. But, whilst these acts were in 
progress, the British prime minister 
held in reserve another vial of wrath to 
pour on the heads of the refractory colo- 
nists. On the loth of April, he rose in 
his place and proposed a third bill, 
which, he hoped.would effectually secure 
the province of Massachusetts Bay from 
future disturbances. The tenor of this 
bill, which bore the plausible title of a 
bill " for the impartial administration of 
justice," was, that " in case of any pei'- 
son being indicted for murder or any 
other capital offence committed in the 
province of Massachusetts in aiding the 
magistracy, the governor might send 
the person so indicted to another colony 
or to Great Britain for trial," — the act 
to continue in force for four years. It 
was observed, that whilst Lord North 
was moving the House for leave to bring- 
in this bill, and was attempting, in a 
short speech, to enforce its necessity, his 
voice faltered. This is not matter of 
surprise. His lordship was a good 
tempered and humane man; and it must 
have been repugnant to his better feel- 
ings to become the organ for the pro- 
posing of such atrocious measures. The 
introduction of this bill roused in oppo- 
sition to it the energies of Colonel 
Barre, who had, however unwillingly, 
acquiesced in the preceding laws of 
coercion. He saw clearly the drift of 
the proposed statute, and was well aware 
that the colonists would not submit to 
it. " You may," said he, " think that 
a law founded on this motion will be a 
protection to the soldier who imbrues his 
hand in the blood of his fellow-subjects. 
I am mistaken if it will. Who is to exe- 
cute it ? He must be a bold man, in- 
deed, who will make the attempt. If 
the people are so exasperated, that it is 
vmsafe to bring the man who has in- 
jured them to trial, let the governor who 
withdraws him from justice look to him- 
self. The people will not endure it ; 
they would no longer deserve the repu- 
tation of being descended from the loins 
of Englishmen if they did endure it." 
Such was the bold language of an expe- 
rienced soldier, who knew America well. 
But this warning voice was raised in 
vain. The views of the Court were 
adopted by both Houses of Parliament, 
and this last and most unconstitutional 
measure of coercion was passed into a law. 



It might seem just and equitable that 
compensation should be made by a 
delinquent community for property de- 
stroyed within its precincts, and not 
unreasonable that a town which had 
perpetrated an open violation of fiscal 
law should be deprived, till it was re- 
duced to a better spirit, of the privileges 
of a port. Nor is it improlxible that, 
had the British ministry proceeded no 
farther in their measures of vengeance, 
the other commercial cities of the colonies 
would have regarded the humiliation of 
the people of Boston with indifference. 
But the attack upon the charter of Mas- 
sachusetts filled the bosom of every 
North American with indignation and 
alarm. Charters they had been accus- 
tomed to consider as inviolable compacts 
between the king and his people ; but 
if these could be annulled and abrogated 
by parliament, what province could 
deem its constitution safe from violation ? 
And in the provision for the trial in 
Great Britain of individuals accused of 
murders committed in America, they 
saw an indemnity for every one who 
might avail himself of a plausible pre- 
text to put to death any person who 
might be obnoxious to government. 
Such were the feelings of the colo- 
nists. But, on this side of the Atlantic, 
these invasions of the liberties of fellow 
subjects were regarded with unconcern, 
and even with satisfaction. The people 
of Great Britain generally care little 
about the internal state of the distant 
possessions of the crown. They at that 
time looked up to parliament with awe, 
as a threefold body vested with the 
attribute of omnipotence ; and they made 
themselves a party in the quarrel, re- 
probating the refractory spirit of the 
colonies as a rebellion against the 
sovereign authority, of which they ima- 
gined that every individual Briton had a 
share. 

§ 8, Removal of the Seat of Government 
from Boston. 

When intelligence arrived at Boston of 
the strong proceedings of the British 
parliament and government, the patriots 
of Massachusetts cast an anxious eye 
on the sister colonies. They were well 
aware that, if left to themselves at this 
awful crisis, they must succumb to the 
power of the mother-country ; but they 
entertained hopes that an union of the 
provinces against wliat they regarded as 
ministerial oppression, would rescue 
their common hb^rties from destruction, 



IG 



iiistohy of the American revolution. 



To effect this union they used the utmost 
exertions of activity, skill, and prudence. 
The opposition to the stamp act and to 
the duly on tea had been carried on by 
means of committees of correspondence, 
which had established links of connexion 
throu2;hout the whole of the British 
dependencies in North America. Of this 
organization they now availed themselves 
with the utmost promptitude ; and, by 
the mission of agents of consummate 
ability, they roused the inhabitants of 
every district of continental America to 
a sense of their wrongs. Public meetings 
were held in every township of every 
province, in which it was resolved to 
make common cause with the people of 
Massachusetts, and to resist the claim 
of the British parliament to tax them 
without their consent. The steps to be 
taken in pursuance of these resolutions 
they unanimously agreed to refer to a 
general congress, the speedy summoning 
of which they declared to be absolutely 
necessary to the public safety. 

In the mean lime, General Gage had 
arrived at Boston, invested with the 
united authority of governor and com- 
mander-in-chief of the forces. He was 
speedily followed by two regiments of 
foot, and by various other detachments, 
which gi-adually swelled his garrison to 
a number which was deemed amply 
sufficient to overawe the malcontents, 
and to enforce the execution of the 
obnoxious acts. Soon after his arrival, 
he announced his intention of holding 
the general court of the colony at Salem 
after the 1st of June, the day appointed 
by the statute for the commencement of 
the operation of the Boston port act. 
The blow tlius struck seemed to com- 
mon observers to be fatal to the inha- 
bitants of that devoted town. Property 
was instantly depreciated to the lowest 
scale of value. Houses were deserted 
by their tenants ; warehouses were 
emptied and abandoned ; the quays were 
deserted ; silence reigned in the ship- 
yards, and thousands of artificers wan- 
dered through the streets destitute of 
emjjloy. But the sufferers bore their 
distresses with a sullen resolution. Not 
a murmur was heard against the demo- 
cratic leaders, who might in a ceitain 
sense be regarded as the authors of their 
miseries ; but their execrations of tiie 
British parliament were loud and vio- 
lent. Contributions poured in from all 
quarters for their relief; and tiiey were 
conilbrted by letters of condolence in 
^heir distresses, and of thanks for their 



steadiness. The inhabitants of Marble 
Head offered to accommodate the mer- 
chants of Boston with their warehouses, 
and the people of Salem, in an address 
to the governor, declared that they could 
not " indulge one thought to seize on 
wealth, and raise their fortunes on the 
ruin of their suffering neighbours." 

§ 9. First Acts of the Assembly at 
Concord. 
On the 7th of June the governor held 
the general court of Massachusetts, at 
Salem; but finding that the popular 
leaders were prepared, on the first day 
of its meeting, to carry some most ob- 
noxious motions, he promptly dissolved 
the assembly. This, however, he did 
not effect before it had nominated five 
deputies to meet the committees of other 
provinces at Philadelphia on the en- 
suing 1st of September. 

The more, indeed, he exerted him- 
self to embarrass the proceedings of 
the patriots, the more decidedly did he 
find himself baffled by their vigilance 
and their ingenuity. When, according 
to the provisions of the coercive sta- 
tutes, he issued a proclamation prohi- 
biting the calling of any town meetings 
after the 1st of August, 1774 ; an assem- 
bly of this kind was, nevertheless, held ; 
and, on his summoning the select men 
to aid him to disperse it, he was en- 
countered by the following notable spe- 
cimen of special pleading, that the hold- 
ing of the meeting to which he objected 
was no violation of the Act fof Parlia- 
ment, "for that only prohiliited llie 
calling of town meetings, and that no 
such call had been made ; a former 
legal meeting, before the 1st of August, 
having only adjourned themselves from 
time to time." One consequence of 
these adjourned meetings was a "so- 
lemn league and covenant," whereby tbe 
parties who signed it bound themselves 
" to suspend all commercial intercourse 
with Great Britain until the late ob- 
noxious laws were repealed, and the 
colony of Massachusetts was restored to 
its chartered rights." A proclamation 
by which the Governor denounced this 
association as "unlawful, hostile, and 
traitorous," was treated with contempt. 
In another proclamation, publisiiod 
about this time, " for the encourage- 
ment of piety and virtue, and for the 
prevention and jnuiishing of vice, pro- 
faneness, and immorality," the Governor 
made especial mention of the vice of 
hyr.ocnsy as a failing which the people 



HtSTOR'^ OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



17 



were admonished to eschew. No doubt, 
the staff of General Gage thought this 
an excellent satire upon the puritanism 
of the Bostonians, But the joke was 
ill timed, and served only to add fuel to 
the popular mind, which was already in a 
high state of inflammation. When, in the 
month of August, Gage attempted to or- 
ganize the new constitution of the colony, 
most of the counsellors whom he ap- 
pointed refused to act, and the juries 
declined to serve under judges nominated 
by the crown. Dreaduig the most seri- 
ous consequences from the obstinacy 
thus manifested by the people of Massa- 
chusetts, the Governor thought it pru- 
dent to fortify Boston Neck, and to seize 
the powder deposited in the arsenal at 
Charlestown, which is a kind of suburb 
to Boston, to which it is united by a 
bridge. These measures produced a 
general rising throughout the province, 
which was with difficulty repressed by 
the prudence of the leading patriots. 
This demonstration drove the Governor 
and his revenue officers from the new 
seat of government to the proscribed 
town of Boston. Whilst these ^trans- 
actions were going on, the Congress, 
or union of the several committees, had 
assembled at Philadelphia, and, as the 
first fruits of its deliberations, issued a 
declaration, that it " most thoroughly 
approved the wisdom and fortitude with 
which opposition to wicked ministerial 
measures had been hitherto established 
in Massachusetts ; and recommended 
perseverance in the same firm and tem- 
perate conduct, as expressed in the re- 
solutions of the delegates from the county 
of Suffolk." The tenor of these reso- 
lutions was, that no obedience was due 
to the restraining statutes. Emboldened 
by the approbation of Congress to act 
up to the spirit of these resolutions, a 
provincial assembly, held at Concord, 
of which Mr. Hancock was president, 
after having in vain solicited the Go- 
vernor to desist from constructing a 
fortress at the entrance into Boston, 
in defiance of his Excellency's authority, 
appointed a committee to draw up a plan 
for the arming of the province. The 
members of this committee did not 
shrink from the discharge'of their peril- 
ous duty. They gave instructions for 
the organizing of a species of partisans, 
under the name of minute men, the com- 
mand of whom was conferred on Jede- 
diah Pribble, Artemas Ward, and Seth 
Pomeroy, warriors whose puritanical 
names gave ominous foreboding of a 



determination of purpose and of an ob- 
stinacy of valour, which their future con- 
duct did not belie. The assembling of 
the militia was delegated to a com- 
mittee of safety ; and a committee of 
supply was authorized to expend the 
sum of 15,000/. sterling, in provisions, 
military accoutrements, and stores, which 
were accordingly provided, and deposited 
at Worcester and Concord. At a later 
meeting of the provincial congress, still 
bolder measures were adopted. Reso- 
lutions were then passed to raise an 
army of 12,000 men, and delegates were 
sent to the adjacent colonies to urge 
them to increase these forces to the 
number of 20,000. It was, moreover, 
determined that the British troops should 
be attacked if they marched in field 
equipment beyond Boston Neck. A 
circular letter was also issued request- 
ing the clergy to aid the common cause 
by their prayers and exhortations. At 
this crisis the situation of the Governor 
was far from being an enviable one. The 
reins of authority had fallen from his 
hands, and had been seized by the pro- 
vincial congress, whose resolutions had 
throughout the province the force of laws. 
At the approach of winter he experienced 
the utmost difficulty in procuring mate- 
rials or workmen to construct barracks 
for ,the sheltering of his troops. Tiie 
straw which he purchased in the vicinity 
of the town was set on fire, and the tim- 
ber which he had bought for tlie king's 
stores was seized or destroyed. Nor 
was the spii-it of open resistance con- 
fined to Boston, In Rhode Island the 
people seized the public battery of forty 
pieces of cannon, and stormed and took 
the castle of Portsmouth, where they 
obtained a seasonable supply of powder. 

§. ] 0. Opening of the Congress at 
Philadelphia. 

These active measures, which amounted 
to a direct levying of war against the 
King, were provoked by the rigour exer- 
cised against the colony of Massachusetts. 
In the meantime, the deputies of eleven 
provinces had assembled in congress at 
Philadelphia, and were soon joined by 
delegates from North CaroHna. Peyton 
Randolph \yas chosen president of this 
assembly, and Charles Thompson was 
appointed its secretary. After a slight 
controversy as to the mode of voting, 
which v/as at length determined to be 
taken by provinces, each province having 
one vote, the members proceeded with 



18 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



the utmost zeal and harmony to the 
arduous business before them. In the 
first phice, they issued a declaration of 
rights, in which, whilst they claimed a 
total exemption from any species of in- 
ternal taxation imposed by the British 
parliament, they professed their willing- 
ness to obey all the laws which might be 
enacted in the mother country for the 
regulation of trade. They protested 
against the introduction of a standing 
army into the colonies without their con- 
sent, as also against the violation of their 
chartered rights in the infringement of 
their ancient constitutions. Enumerat- 
ing the several acts by which they were 
aggrieved, they declared that till these 
acts were repealed, they and their con- 
stituents would hold no commercial in- 
tercourse with Britain ; and, with a view 
of over-awing the weak and the waver- 
ing, and the partisans of royal authority 
among their countrymen, they resolved 
that committees should be chosen in 
every county, city, and town, to ob- 
serve the conduct of all people touching 
the suspension of trade with the mother 
country, and to publish, in gazettes, 
the names of those who violated this 
ordinance, as foes to the rights of 
British America. They also agreed 
upon an address to the British people, 
vindicating their resistance to oppres- 
sion ; and two memorials to the West 
India colonies and to the people of 
Canada, exhorting them to unite with 
their persecuted brethren in a steady 
opposition to the encroachments of arbi- 
trary power. In laying their grievances 
before the throne, in a petition to the 
King, they professed sentiments of loyalty 
to his Majesty's person and authority ; 
but complained of the miseries which 
had been brought upon them by the 
mal-administration of wicked ministers. 
" We ask," said they, " but for peace, 
liberty, and safety. We wish not a 
diminution of the prerogative, nor do we 
solicit the gi-ant of any new right in our 
favour. Your royal authority over us, 
and our connexion wuth Great Britain, 
we shall always carefully and zealously 
endeavour to support and maintain." 
This address to the sovereign concluded 
in the following pathetic terms. " We 
implore your Majesty, for the honour of 
Almighty God, for your own glory, for 
the interest of your family, for the safety 
of your kingdoms and dominions, that, 
as the loving father of your whole peo- 

f)le, connected by the same bonds of law, 
oyalty, faith, and blood, though dwell- 



ing in various coimtries, you will not 
suffer the transcendent relation formed 
by these ties to be farther violated by 
uncertain expectation of effects, which, 
if attained, never could compensate for 
the calamities through which they must 
be gained." These various documents 
were drawn up with great judgment 
and ability ; and their dissemination 
throughout the union produced a power- 
ful effect upon the feelings of the peo- 
ple, — preparing them for the most 
strenuous exertions in what they deemed 
to be the cause of justice and free- 
dom. Their framers, however, did 
not rely upon their eloquence alone, to 
produce an effect favourable to their 
cause upon the people of Britain. Their 
non-importation agreements had pro- 
duced the repeal of the Stamp Act, and 
they trusted that the annunciation of 
similar resolutions would produce simi- 
lar effects as to the removal of their late 
parliamentary grievances. The event 
proved that they were mistaken. The 
merchants trading to America composed 
a small fraction of the British commu- 
nity. A hostile ministry was all power- 
ful in parliament — the pride of the King 
was touched — every individual Briton, 
in whose mouth the phrase our colonies 
was familiar, deemed himself, in some 
sort, sovereign over the North American 
plantations, and a cry almost unanimous 
was raised throughout the nation, that 
the mutinous contemners of the omni- 
potence of the legislature of the parent 
state must be reduced to obedience by 
the strong hand of coercion. 

The CoNOKEss, after a session of about 
eight weeks, and alter passing a resolu- 
tion for the calling of another assembly 
of the same nature, if necessary, in the 
ensuing IMay, dissolved themselves; and 
the members proceeded to further in their 
respective provinces the cause in which 
they were thus decidedly embarked. 
By their influence, operating upon minds 
ready prepared by perpetual discussions, 
both public and private, of the wrongs 
of the colonies, the recommendations of 
an assembly, invested with no legal au- 
thority, obtained the force of laws. The 
non-intercourse agreements were zeal- 
ously adopted by the great mass of the 
people; and the few who ventured to 
dissent from the general voice were pro- 
scribed as enemies to their country. 

§.11. Address of the House of Com- 
mons, ^ih February, 1775. 

When the petition from Congress to 



HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



19 



the King arrived in England, his Majesty 
had just met a new parliament, to which 
he had communicated information, in a 
speech from the throne, " that a most 
daring spirit of resistance and disobedi- 
ence to the laws unhappily prevailed in 
the colony of Massachusetts ;" and at 
the same time intimated that he had 
taken the requisite steps to repress it. 
Notwithstanding this angry demonstra- 
tion, hopes were, for a short time, enter- 
tained by the friends of America that 
ministers would adopt measures of con- 
ciliation. The secretary of state, after 
submitting the petition of the general 
Congress to the cabinet council, pre- 
sented it to the King, by whom, as he 
reported, it was graciously received, and 
was intended to be laid by him before 
his two houses of parliament ; numerous 
petitions from the merchants and manu- 
facturers of the principal towns in the 
kingdom, and from the West India 
planters, prayed for the adoption of a 
more lenient policy towards the North 
American colonies ; all the eloquence 
of Lord Chatham was exerted m the 
house of peers to effect the same ob- 
ject ; yet Lord North was determined 
to proceed in the course of coercion. 
The Rubicon was passed on the 9th 
of February, 1775, by the presenta- 
tion by both houses of a joint address to 
the King, in which they stated it as their 
opinion, that " a rebellion actually ex- 
isted in the province of Massachusetts ;" 
and, in the usual style, offered to hazard 
their lives and fortunes " in the main- 
tenance of the just rights of his Majesty 
and the two houses of parliament." In 
support of this address, an addition was 
voted to the military force, of 4383 rank 
and file, and 2000 seamen. An act was 
also passed to restrain the commerce of 
the eastern colonies to Great Britain, 
Ireland, and the British West Indies ; 
and to prevent them from fishing on 
the banks of Newfoundland, under cer- 
tain conditions, and for a limited time. 
The provisions of this act were soon 
afterwards extended to the provinces of 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
Virginia, and South Carolina. It is to 
be remarked, that New York, Delaware, 
and North Carolina, did not on this 
occasion fall under the ban of ministerial 
interdiction. New York, where the 
government had more influence than in 
other colonies, had been tardy in joining 
the union ; and Lord North flattered 
himself that, by forbearing to include 
that and the otlier two colonies above- 



mentioned in the restraining act, he 
should sow amongst the associated pro- 
vinces jealousies which would dissolve 
their connexion; but in this he was dis- 
appointed. So powerful was the spirit 
of patriotism in America, that the in- 
habitants of the exempted colonies dis- 
dained to avail themselves of the privi- 
leges which were reserved to them, and 
determined to share in the restrictions 
imposed on their brethren ; and it was 
with severe mortification that the premier 
soon afterwards witnessed the presenta- 
tion to the house of commons of a peti- 
tion and remonstrance from the assembly 
of New York, claiming exemption from 
internal taxation, and protesting against 
the dependance of governors and judges 
on the crown for their salaries and emo- 
luments. A hearing had been refused 
to the petition of Congress, though it 
was individually signed, under the pre- 
text that it emanated from an illegal 
meeting. The remonstrance of the New 
York assembly was not liable to this 
objection ; but when a motion was made 
in the House of Commons that it should 
be brought up, it was lost by a strata- 
gem of Lord North. 

On the 20th of February, 177 r^, some 
time previously to the transaction which 
has just been related, his lordship had 
manifested some cunning, but little wis- 
dom, in proposing a resolution to the 
effect that when any of the colonies or 
provinces in America shoukJ make pro- 
• vision for contributing their propor- 
tion to the common defence, and for the 
support of their civil government (such 
proportion to be raised under the autho- 
rity of the general court or general as- 
sembly of such province and colony), 
" it will be proper to forbear, in respect 
of such colony or province, to levy any 
duty or tax, except such duties as may 
arise for the regulation of commerce, 
which duties are to be carried to the 
account of such colony or province." 
Tiie bill founded on this resolution was 
violently opposed by certain of the prime 
minister's habitual partisans, who in- 
sisted on it that the colonies should be 
taxed directly by the British parliament. 
It was also attacked by the opposition, 
who argued that as it reserved to the 
British government the right of appor- 
tioning the respective proportions which 
the provmces should raise for the general 
service, and left the disposal of the sums 
raised to parliament, it mattered little 
that the immediate application of the 
scourge of taxation should be left to the 
C 2 



20 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



colonial assemblies, who would regard 
the bill as an insult and a wrong. The 
opposition made a right estimate of the 
feehngs of the Americans. The bill 
passed into a law ; but it was received 
throughout the union with abhorrence 
and contempt. 

It was in this session, viz. on the 22d 
of March, 1775, that Mr. Burke made 
his celebrated speech for conciliation 
witli America, — a speech fraught with 
statesman-like views, expressed in lan- 
guage at once temperate and eloquent. 
At the commencement of this deeply- 
studied oration, Mr. Burke, after ob- 
serving that all former measures recom- 
mended by the ministry and adopted by 
parliament had served to no other pur- 
pose but to keep America in a state of 
agitation, intimated that it had been ob- 
served to him by an intelligent friend, 
that, instead of limiting himself to criti- 
cisms or Ihe plans of government, it was 
highly expedient that he should produce 
a plan of his own. Though he was 
aware, said he, that it argues little 
knowledge to hazard plans of govern- 
ment, except from a seat of authority, 
yet, as public calamity was a mighty 
leveller, he would now act upon his 
friend's suggestion. " My proposition," 
proceeded he, " is peace ; not peace 
through the medium of war ; nor peace 
to be hunted through the labyrinth of 
intricate and endless negotiations ; nor 
peace to arise out of universal discord, 
fomented from principle in all parts of 
the empire ; not peace to depend upon 
the juridical determination of perplexing 
questions, or the precise marking of the 
shadowy boundaries of a complex go- 
vernment. It is simple peace, sought 
in its natural course and in its ordinary 
haunts — it is peace sought in the spirit 
of ,'peace, and laid in principles purely 
pacific. I propose, by removing the 
ground of tlie difference, and by re- 
storing the former unsuspecting confi- 
dence of the colonies in the mother 
country, to give permanent satisfaction 
to your people, and, far from a scheme 
of ruling by discord, to reconcile them 
to each other in the same act, and by 
the bond of the very same interest which 
reconciles them to British government." 
After laying down and enforcing the po- 
sition that the proposal for reconcilia- 
tion ought, in consideration of her 
strength, to come from Great Britain, 
Mr. Burke asserted, that the plan for 
conciliation ought lo be guided, not by 
abstract theory, but by a regard to cir- 



cumstances. What, then, were the cir- 
cumstances of the present case ? In the 
first place, the discontented Americans 
amounted in number to two millions, a 
number which, considered in mass, could 
not be regarded " as a paltry excrescence 
of the state, or a mean dependant, who 
may be neglected with little damage, and 
provoked witli little danger." But, with 
the consideration of the population of 
America, it was requisite to combine 
mature reflection upon other circum- 
stances ; as, for instance, the commerce, 
the agriculture, and the fisheries of the 
colonies. As to commerce, Mr. Burke 
proved, by documentary evidence, that, 
at the beginning of the century, of six 
millions which constituted the whole 
mass of the export commerce of Brr- 
tain, the colony trade was but one 
twelfth part ; but that, by the last re- 
turns submitted to parliament, it ap- 
peared that, as a {)art of sixteen millions, 
it constituted considerably more than a 
third of the whole. In agriculture, he 
asserted that America was so prosperous 
that she was enabled to export vast 
quantities of grain for the supply of the 
mother country. As to the third head 
of consideration, " no sea," exclaimed 
the orator, "but is vexed by the fisheries 
of the colonists, no climate that is not 
witness to their toils. Neither the per- 
severance of Holland, nor the activity of 
France, nor the dexterous and firm sa- 
gacity of English enterprise, ever carried 
this most perilous mode of hard indus- 
try to the extent to which it has been 
pushed by this recent people, — a people 
who are still, as it were, but in the 
gristle, and not yet hardened into the 
bone of manhood." But, continued Mr. 
Burke, some persons will say, such a 
country is worth lighting for — true — 
but fighting will not retain it. Force is 
uncertain, and, if successful, it will de- 
jneciate the object gained. He warned 
the house to consider the temper and 
character of the people with whom many 
ill-advised individuals seemed so eager 
to contend. The North American co- 
lonists were jealous of their liberties. 
Their jealousy as to their rights they 
derived from their English origin ; it 
was nursed by then* jjopular legislatures 
— it was also nursed l)y their religion. 
The great body of the colonists were 
dissenters ; and the dissenting interests 
have sprung up in direct opposition to 
all the ordinary powers of the world, 
and can justify tliat opposition only on 
a strong claim lo natural liberty. " AU 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



21 



firotestantism," Mr. Burke acutely re- 
marked — "All protestanism, even Ihe 
most cold and passive, is a sort of dis- 
sent. But the religion most prevalent 
in our Northern colonies, is a refine- 
ment on the principle of resistance ; it 
is the dissidence of dissent, and the pro- 
testantism of the protestant religion." 
The spirit of freedom was, moreover, 
nurtured in the colonies, in general, by 
education ; and in Virginia and the 
Carolinas by that pride which uniformly 
actuates the holders of slaves, " to 
whom freedom is not only an enjoy- 
ment, but a kind of rank and privilege." 
Their distance from the mother country 
likewise rendered the colonists less dis- 
posed to submit to the dictation of the 
parent state. " This happens in all forms 
into which empire can be thrown. In 
large bodies the circulation of power 
must be less vigorous at the extremi- 
ties." A proud spirit of liberty having 
from these various causes been infused 
throughout the colonies, in consequence 
of which they have not only disobeyed 
our authority, but established an effici- 
ent authority of their own, by means of 
which a vast province has subsisted for 
near a twelvemonth, without governor, 
without public council, without judges, 
without executive magistrates, the ques- 
tion arises, how is this spirit to be en- 
countered ? Some politicians have in 
this emergency proposed to check the 
population of the colonies by stopping 
the grant of more lands by the crown. 
Others have advised that their maritime 
enterprises should be checked by the 
severity of restrictive laws ; whilst a 
third class of counsellors are sanguine 
in their expectations, that the Virginians 
and the planters of the Carolinas will 
speedily be reduced to submission by 
the emancipation of their slaves. Some, 
again, went so far as to talk of prose- 
cuting the refractory as criminals. After 
demonstrating at length the futility of 
these proposals, Mr. Burke affirmed, that 
the only method left of putting an end 
to the existing troubles was that of con- 
ciliation. The Americans, said he, com- 
plain of taxation — I will not on this 
matter dispute the point of right, but 
that of policy. "The question is not 
whether you have a right to render your 
people miserable, but whether it is not 
your interest to make them happy. It 
is not what a lawyer may tell you, you 
may do, but what humanity, reason, and 
justice declare you ought to do." Hav- 
ing thus laid down the principle of his 



plan, Mr. Burke began to open it by 
declaring, that his main object was to 
admit the people of the colonies to an 
interest in the Constitution. The fact 
was. that the Americans did not object 
to the laws of trade ; nor did they aim 
at anything more than a release from 
taxation, imposed upon them by a legis- 
lative body in which their interests are 
not guarded by their representatives. 
Similar [uneasiness was for a long time 
prevalent in Ireland, in Wales, and in 
the counties palatine of Chester and 
Durham. Now the agitations of Ire- 
land were quelled by the establishment 
of a separate legislature for that country, 
whilst the feuds which prevailed in 
Cheshire and Durham were annihilated 
by the admission of representatives of 
those counties into the English parlia- 
ment. Let a similar policy then be ex- 
ercised towards America. In her case, 
let taxation and representation go hand 
in hand. But the distance between the 
colonies and the mother country pre- 
cludes the Americans from sending re- 
presentatives to the British legislature. 
What remains, then, but to recognize 
for the theory the ancient constitution 
and policy of this kingdom with regard 
to representation, and as to the practice, 
to return to that mode which an uniform 
experience has marked out to you as 
best, and in which you walked with 
security, advantage, and honour until 
the year 1 763. " My resolutions, there- 
fore," continued Mr. Burke, "mean to 
estabhsh the equity and justice of a tax- 
ation of America by grant, and not by 
imposition ; to mark the legal compe- 
tency of the colony assemblies for the 
support of their government in peace, 
and for the public aids in the time of 
war; to acknowledge that this legal 
competency has had a dutiful and bene- 
ficial exercise, and that experience has 
shewn the benefit of their grants, and 
the futility of parliamentary taxation as 
a measure of supply." After opening 
these points at considerable length, and 
with transcendent ability, Mr. Burke 
concluded by moving a series of resolu- 
tions, in which their substance was em- 
bodied. This masterly speech, in the 
meditation and composition of which 
Mr. Burke, in the earnestness of his 
wish to point out to the members of the 
House of Commons the true line of co- 
lonial policy, seems to have chastised 
and checked the exuberance of his 
genius, was spoken to the members 
alone, as during the debate the stand- 



22 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.' ' 



ing orders for the exclusion of strangers 
were strictly enforced. It was answered 
by Mr. Jenkinson, who professed seri- 
ous alarm at the proposition, that any 
public body, save parliament, was enti- 
tled to make grants of money to the 
crown. These constitutional scruples 
had their due weight, and Mr. Burke's 
resolutions were negatived by a ma- 
jority of 270 to 78. 

About this time, ' Dr. Franklin, in 
a kind of demi-official communication 
with ministers, endeavoured to effect a 
reconciliation between the colonies and 
the parent state. In the discussions 
which took place with this view between 
the Doctor and the agents of the minis- 
try, most of the points in dispute were 
settled ; but the obstinate refusal of the 
cabinet to restore the ancient constitu- 
tion of Massachusetts broke off the con- 
ferences ; and Dr. Franklin, despairing 
of the preservation of peace, returned 
to his native land, determined to share 
the fortunes of his countrymen, and, at 
all hazards, to devote his talents to the 
maintenance of their rights. 

§12. Affair at Lexington, I9th April, 
1775. 

It has already been slated that the 
Massachusetts patriots had resolved to 
attack the king's forces whenever they 
should march out of Boston. On the 
19th of April, 1775, their adherence to 
this resolution was put to the test. With 
a view of seizing the military stores and 
provisions which the insurgents had col- 
lected at Concord, General Ga^e, on the 
niiiht preceding that eventful day, de- 
tached from his garrison 800 picked 
men, under the command of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Smith. These troops made a 
rapid march to the place of their desti- 
nation, in hopes of taking the malcon- 
tents by surprise ; but notwithstanding 
their precautions, the alarm was given 
throughout the country, and the inha- 
bitants iiew to arms. Between four and 
five o'clock on the morning of the 19th, 
the advanced guard of the royal troops 
arrived at Lexington, where tliey found 
about seventy of the American militia 
under arms, whom Major Pitcairn or- 
dered to disperse ; and on their hesitat- 
ing to obey iiis commands, that officer 
discharged his pistol, and ordered his 
soldiers to fire. By the volley which 
ensued three or four of the militia were 
killed, and the rest put to fii^ht. Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Smith then proceeded to 



Concord, where he destroyed the stores 
of the insurgents, and then commenced 
his retreat towards Boston. He was 
not, however, permitted to make this 
retrograde movement without molesta- 
tion. Before he left Concord he was 
attacked by the American militia and 
minute- men, who, accumulating by de- 
grees, harassed his rear and flanks, 
taking advantage of every inequality of 
ground, and especially availing them- 
selves of the stone walls which skirted 
the road, and which served them as en- 
trenchments. Had not the detachment 
been met at Lexington by a body of 900 
men, which General Gage had sent out 
to its support, under the command of 
Lord Percy, it would certainly have been 
cut off. The united British forces ar- 
rived, wearied and exhausted, at Bun- 
ker's Hill, near Boston, a little after 
sunset, having sustained a loss of 65 
killed, 180 wounded, and 28 prisoners. 

When Lord Percy, on his advance, 
was marching through Roxburgh, his 
military band, in derision of the Ameri- 
cans, played the tune of " Yankee Doo- 
dle." . His lordship observed a youth 
who appeared to be amused at this 
circumstance, and asking him why he 
laughed, received this answer^" To 
think how you will dance by-and-by to 
' Chevy Chase.' " It had been too 
much the habit of the British to despise 
and insult the Americans as cowards ; 
but the event of the inarch to Concord 
convinced them that the Massachusetts 
men were not deficient either in personal 
coui-age or in individual skill in the use 
of arms. 

$ 13. Battle of Bunker's Hill, \UhJune, 
1775. 

Blood having been thus drawn, the 
whole of the discontented colonies took 
prompt measures to resist the royal au- 
thority by force of arms. Volunteers 
enrolled themselves in every province ; 
and throughout the whole union the 
King's stores were seized for the use of 
the insurgents. Tiie surprisal of Ticon- 
deroga and Crown Point by a party 
from Connecticut, under the command 
of Colonel Allen, furnished them with 
upwards of 100 piect's of cannon, and a 
proportionable (juantity of ammunition. 
Troops were gradually assembled in the 
towns and villages in the vicinity of 
Boston, so as to hoi I that town in a 
state of blockade. About the latter end 
of I\lay, General Gage was reinforced by 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



23 



the troops -which had been sent from 
Great Britain, and which were accom- 
panied by Generals Howe, Burgoyne, 
and Chnton. Findino: himself thus 
strengthened, he prepared for active 
operations; but wishing to temper jus- 
tice with mercy, on the 12th of June he 
issued a proclamation, offering pardon 
to all who would lay down their arms, 
with the exception of Samuel Adams 
and John Hancock, " whose offences," 
he declared, "were of too flagitious a 
nature to admit of any other considera- 
tion than that of condign punishment." 
This proclamation produced no effect on 
the Americans, save that of rousing 
them to more vigorous exertions. , On 
Charlestown Neck, a peninsula situated 
to the north of Boston, with which it com- 
municates by a bridge, is a considerable 
eminence, called Bunker's Hill. As this 
was deemed a post of great importance, 
the Americans resolved to occupy it, 
and orders were given by the provincial 
authorities that a detachment of 1000 
men should entrench themselves on the 
height in question. The party was ac- 
cordingly moved forwards from Cam- 
bridge on the night of the 16th of June, 
but, by mistake, commenced their ope- 
rations on Breed's Hill, an eminence 
nearer to the town of Boston than the 
place of their destination. Here they 
laboured with such activity, and at the 
same time with such silence, that the 
appearance of their works, at day-break 
the next morning, was the first indica- 
tion of their presence. The firing of 
guns from the Lively man-of-war, 
whence they were first seen, gave the 
alarm to the British, whose commanders, 
on reconnoitring the position of the 
enemy from the steeples and heights of 
the city, perceived that they had thrown 
up a redoubt about eight rods square, 
from which lines extended to the east- 
ward nearly to the bottom of the hill. 
To the westward the works were less per- 
fect ; but the provincials were busily 
employed in carrying them on, notwith- 
standing they were exposed to showers 
of shot and shells, discharged from the 
vessels in the harbour. The necessity 
of driving the enemy from their position 
was evident ; and for this purpose Gage 
put 3000 men under the command of 
General Howe. On this occasion the 
British were not very alert in their pre- 
parations, as it was noon before their 
troops were embarked in the boats which 
were to convey them to Moreton's Point, 
at the southern extremity of Charlestown 



Neck, At this awful crisis every elevated 
spot in the town of Boston was covered 
with spectators, who anxiously awaited 
the event of the expected contest. ^Their 
attention was first arrested by a dense 
smoke, which announced that the Bri- 
tish, fearing lest the houses of Charles- 
town might afford shelter to the provin- 
cials, had set that place on fire. Pro- 
ceeding to Moreton's Point, the king's 
troops formed in two lines, and marched 
slowly up the hill, whilst their artiheiy 
played on the American works. The 
provincials stood firm and steady : they 
reserved their fire till the British had 
advanced to within sixty or seventy 
yards of their lines ; they then made a 
simultaneous discharge with so cool an 
aim, and supported their fire with so 
much steadiness, that the British gave 
way, and fled to the water's edge. Here 
they were raUied by their officers, and a 
second time led to the charge. A second 
time they retreated, and all seemed to be 
lost, when General Howe, aided by Ge- 
neral Clinton, who, seeing his distress, 
had crossed over from Boston to join 
him, with difficulty persuaded them to 
make another onset, which was success- 
ful. The Americans had expended their 
ammunition, and were unable to procure 
a fresh supply. Their redoubt being 
forced, they were compelled to retreat ; 
but though the road over Charlestown 
Neck, by which they retired, was enfi- 
laded by the Glasgow man-of-war, they 
withdrew with much less loss than might 
have been expected : they left dead on 
the field 139 of their comrades, and their 
wounded and missing amounted to 314. 
Amongst the valuable lives which were 
sacrificed in this battle, the Americans 
were sensibly affected by the loss of 
Dr. Warren, who was slain whilst stand- 
ing on the redoubt, animating his fel- 
low soldiers to the most valorous exer- 
tions. Warren was a man of eminent 
talents, and of most amiable manners 
in private and domestic life. He ex- 
celled as an orator, and he was wise 
and prudent in council, and the circum- 
stances of his death evinced that he could 
act as well as speak, and that the mild- 
ness of his character was united with firm 
determination and undaunted courage. 
The British purchased their victory 
dearly, their loss amounting to 226 
killed and 828 wounded, including 79 
officers: at this cost General Gage ob 
tained little more than the field of battle. 
At the conclusion of the engagement he 
advanced to Bunker's Hill, which he for 



24 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



tified ; whilst the Americans entrenched 
tliemselves on Prospect Hill, distant 
about a mile and a lialf from his lines. 

§ 14. V7iio7i of the Thirteen Provinces 
— Hancock appointed President, and 
Washington Commander-i?i' Chief. 

"When Colonel Allen appeared at the 
gates of Ticonderoga, on the 10th of 
^lay, he summoned that fortress " in 
the name of the Great Jehovah and the 
continental Congress." On the very day 
on which tins summons was given that 
body assembled, and had the satisfaction 
to find itself joined by delegates from 
Georgia — so that the union of the thirteen 
provinces was now completed. Peyton 
Randolph, Esq., was appointed president ; 
but urgent business soon after requiring 
his presence at home, he was succeeded 
by Mr. Hancock. After mature delibe- 
ration, the Congress agreed on addresses 
to the British nation, to the Canadians.to 
Ireland, and to the Island of Jamaica, in 
which they insisted upon the topics upon 
which they had antecedently dwelt in 
similar compositions. Fearful also lest, 
in case of the continuance of hostdities 
with the mother country, their frontier 
should be devastated by the Indians, a 
talk was prepared in which the contro- 
versy between Great Britain and her 
colonies was e.iphiined in a familiar 
Indian style. They were told that " they 
had no concern in the family quarrel, 
and were urged by the ties of ancient 
friendship and a common birth place, to 
remain at home, to keep their hatchet 
buried deep, and to join neither side." 
Such is the statement of Mr. Ramsay; 
and so far as Congress is concerned, no 
doubt that respectable historian is cor- 
rect. But had he carefully examined 
the official correspondence of General 
Washington, he would have found, from 
a letter of his dated August 4, 1775, that 
the American commander-in-chief did 
not limit his views to neutrality on tiie 
part of the Indians, but that he took 
measures to secure the co-operation of 
the Caghnewaga tribe, in the event of 
any expedition being meditated against 
Canada. Still aiming, with however 
faint hopes, at conciliation, the Congress 
drew up another humble and pathetic 
petition to the King, \vliich was deli- 
vered on the ensuing September by their 
agents to Lord Dartmouth, the colonial 
secretary of state, who mformed them 
that no answer would be returned to it. 
Tliey did not, however, confine them- 



selves to literary controversy, but took 
measures for depriving the Britisli troops 
of supplies. They also resolved to raise 
an army sufficient to enable them to cope 
with the enemy, and issued, for its equip- 
ment and j)ay, bills of credit to the value 
of two millions of dollars. With a happy 
unanimity they appointed George Wash- 
ington commander-in-chief of their forces. 
Soon after he received his commission, 
the general repaired to the head quar- 
ters at Cambridge, in the vicinity of 
Boston, where he arrived on the ord of 
July, and was received with joyful accla- 
mations by the troops. The army con- 
sisted of 14,500 men, and occupied can- 
tonments so disposed as closely to be- 
leaguer the enemy within Boston. The 
soldiers w^ere hardy, active, and zealous. 
But still, when the general had minutely 
inspected the state of affairs, he found 
ample matter for serious reflection. He 
was destitute of a responsible commis- 
sariat to procure and dispense the ne- 
cessary supplies. Many of the soldiers 
were ill-provided with arms. On the 
4th of August he was apprized of the 
alarming fact that' his whole stock of 
powder would afford little more than 
nine rounds a man. On the settling of 
the rank of officers, also, he had to en- 
counter the ill-humour of the ambitious, 
who conceived that they were not pro- 
moted according to their merits. With 
his characteristic patience and assiduity, 
however, he overcame these difficulties. 
By the influence of the respect which his 
character inspired, he reduced these jar- 
ring elements to some degree of order. 
His encampments were regularly sup- 
plied with provisions. By extraordinary 
exertions he procured a sufficient stock 
of ammunition and military stores ; and 
though the well-dressed scouting parties 
of the British who approached his lines 
could not repress a smile on seeing his 
soldiers equipped in lumting shirts, the 
affair at Breed's Hill had taught them 
that a handsome uniform is by no means 
essential to bravery in battle. 

On the 1 0th of Octol^er, General Gage 
resigned the command of the British 
army to General Howe, and sailed for 
England in a vessel of war. Had he 
made the voyage in a transport, he would 
have run some risk of being taken pri- 
soner; for towards the close of this year 
(1775) Congress fitted out several jni- 
vateers, which were eminently successful 
in capturing the store sliips which had 
been sent i'rom Great Britain with sup- 
plies for the royal army. These captures 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



at once crippled the enemy and fur- 
nished the Americans with important 
requisites for carrying on the war. 

§ 15. Invasion of Canada — Death of 
Mo7itgomery. 

Nor were the offensive operations of 
the provincials confined to the sea. Hav- 
ing, as has been before related, obtained 
possession of Ticonderoga, which is the 
key of Canada, the Congress determined 
to invade that province, in the hope that 
its inhabitants would welcome the forces 
which they might send against it, as their 
deliverers from the yoke of oppression. 
They accordingly gave the command of 
1000 men to Generals Schuyler and 
Montgomery, with directions to march 
into Canada. When the expedition had 
advanced to the town of St. John's, 
Schuyler, in consequence of the bad 
state of his health, resigned the com- 
mand to his associate, and returned 
home. In attacking St. John's, the 
commander of which made a brave de- 
fence, Montgomery experienced consi- 
derable difficulties in consequence of his 
want of the chief requisites for conduct- 
ing"a siege ; but he vanquished them all, 
and compelled the garrison, consisting 
of 500 regulars and 100 Canadians, to 
surrender. During the progress of the 
siege. Sir Guy Carleton, the Governor 
of Canada, had collected 800 men at 
Montreal, for the purpose of attacking 
the besieging army ; but he was driven 
back by a body of the Vermont militia, 
commanded by General Warner. Mont- 
gomery, therefore, proceeded to Mon- 
treal, the garrison of which attempted to 
escape down the river, but were inter- 
cepted and captured by the American 
Colonel Easton : and Governor Carleton 
himself was so hard pressed, that he was 
glad to escape to Trois Rivieres, whence 
he proceeded to Quebec. To this place 
he was pursued by Montgomery, who, 
in the course of his march, adopted the 
wisest measures to gain over the inha- 
bitants of the province. With the pea- 
sants he succeeded ; but upon the priests 
and the seigneurs, or feudal lords, who 
foresaw that a revolution would be de- 
trimental to their interests, he made little 
impression. 

Whilst IMontgomery was penetrating 
into Canada by the St. Lawrence, Ge- 
neral Arnold, who afterwards rendered 
himself infamous by his treachery, was 
advancing to co-operate with him by 
the way of the Kennebeck river and the 



25 

Chaudiere. This route appears upon 
the map to be a very direct one ; but it 
was beset with formidable difficulties. 
In their voyage up the Kennebeck, Ar- 
nold and his comrades had to pull against 
a powerful stream interrupted by rapids, 
over which they were obliged to haul 
their boats with excessive labour. The 
space which intervenes between the 
mouth of the Kennebeck and that of the 
Chaudiere was a wild and pathless 
forest, through a great part of which 
they were compelled to cut their way 
with hatchets ; and so scantily were 
they furnished with provisions, that 
when they had eaten their last morsel 
they had thirty miles to travel before 
they could expect any farther supplies. 
In spite of these obstructions, Arnold 
persevered in his bold enterprize ; and 
on the 8th of November he arrived at 
Point Levi, opposite Quebec ; and had 
he possessed the means of immediately 
passing the St. Lawrence, such was 
the panic occasioned by his unexpected 
appearance, that it is probable that the 
city, in the absence of the Governor, 
would have surrendered to him. But 
whilst he was collecting craft to effect 
his passage, the inhabitants recovered 
from their consternation, the Governor 
arrived, and the place was put in a pos 
ture of defence. On the 1st of Decem- 
l)er, Montgomery, having effected a 
junction with Arnold, broke ground 
before Quebec. But he laboured under 
insuperable disadvantages. His forces 
were inferior in number to those of the 
garrison. He was destitute of a proper 
battering train. His soldiers were daily 
sinking under the hardships of a Cana- 
dian winter; and their term of enlist- 
ment was soon to expire. Seeing that 
no hopes were left, but that of the suc- 
cess of a desperate effort, he attempted 
to carry the city by assault, and had 
penetrated to the second barrier, when 
he fell by a musket shot, leaving behind 
him the character of a brave soldier, an 
accomplished gentleman, and an ardent 
friend of liberty. Arnold was carried 
wounded from the field; but on the 
death of his friend he took the command 
of the remnant of his forces, which he 
encamped at the short distance of three 
miles from the city. 

§ 16. Evacuation of Boston, March 17 
1776. 

Whilst these transactions were car- 
rying on to the northward of the 



2S 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



American continent, the inhabitants of 
the middle and southern provinces were 
employed in preparing for resistance 
against the demands of the British go- 
vernment, and in general compelled 
such of their governors as took any 
active measures for the support of royal 
authority, to consult for their safety by 
taking refuge on board of ships of war. 
In Virginia, the imprudence of Lord 
Dunmore provoked open hostilities, in 
the course of which he burned the town 
of Norfolk. By this act, however, and 
by a proclamation, in which he pro- 
mised freedom to such of the negroes 
as should join his standard, he only 
irritated the provincials, without doing 
them any essential injury ; and being 
finally driven from the colony, he re- 
turned to England, 

Towards the close of this year, the 
commander-in-chief of the American 
forces found himself in circumstances 
of extreme embarrassment. " It gives 
me great distress," thus he \yrote in a 
letter to Congress of the date of Sept. 
21, 1775, " to be obliged to solicit the 
attention of the honourable Congress to 
the state of this army, in terms which 
imply the slightest apprehension of being 
neglected. But my situation is inex- 
pressibly distressing, to see the winter 
fast approaching upon a naked army ; 
the time of their service within a few 
weeks of expiring; and no provision 
yet made for such important events. 
Added to these, the military chest is 
totally exhausted : the paymaster has 
not a single dollar in hand : the commis- 
sary-general assures me he has strained 
his credit, for the subsistence of the 
army, to the utmost. The quarter- 
master-general is precisely in the same 
situation ; and the greater part of the 
troops are in a state not far from mutiny 
upon the deduction from their stated 
allowance." The fact is, that the troops 
had engaged in the service of their 
country with feelini^s of ardent zeal ; 
but, with a mist aken idea that the con- 
test would be decided by a single effort, 
they had limited the time of their ser- 
vice to a short period, which was ready 
to expire. Congress had appointed a 
committee, consisting of Dr. Franklin 
and two other individuals, to organize 
an army for the year 1776. But when 
these gentlemen repaired to head 
quarters, and sounded the dispositions of 
tlie troops as to a second enlistment, 
they did not tind in them the alacrity 
vrhich they expected. The soldiers 



were, as they had evinced in all services 
of danger, personally brave ; but they 
were unaccustomed to the alternate mo- 
notony and violent exertion of a military 
life, and their independent spirit could 
ill brook the necessary restraints of 
disciphne. From these causes so many 
quitted the camp when the term of their 
service was expired, that on the last day 
of the year Washington's muster-roll 
contained the names of only 9650 men. 
By the exertions of the committee, 
however, these were speedily reinforced 
by a body of militia, who increased their 
numbers to 17,000. Upon these cir- 
cumstances, the commander-in-chief, in 
one of his despatches to Congress, made 
the following striking remarks. " It is 
not in the pages of history, perhaps, to 
furnish a case hke ours — to maintain a 
post within musket- shot of the enemy 
for six months together without ammu- 
nition, and, at the same time, to disband 
one army and recruit another, w^ithin 
that distance of twenty odd British regi- 
ments is more, probably, than ever was 
attempted. But if we succeed as well 
in the last, as we have heretofore in 
the first, I shall think it the most for- 
tunate event of my whole life." It may 
be permitted us to conjecture that in 
these circumstances the uneasiness of 
Washington was enhanced by his con- 
sciousness of the risk which he ran in 
thus communicating the secret of his 
difficulties to so numerous a body as 
the Congress. Had there been found 
one coward, one traitor, or even one in- 
discreet individual in that assembly, the 
British general would have been apprized 
of the vast advantages which he had 
over his. antagonist; he would have 
adopted the offensive, and the cause of 
American independence would have 
been lost. But every colonial senator was 
faithful to his trust. Every one was silent 
as to the real situation of the army ; and 
the commander-in-chief still confidently 
presented a bold front to the enemy. It 
was well known that the British troops in 
Boston were much straitened for provi- 
sions; and the militia having joined the 
army in expectation of immediate battle, 
were eager for the onset, and murmured 
at the delay of the general in giving the 
signal for an assault on the town. They 
were little aware of the distresses bywhich 
he was embarrassed. Notwithstanding 
the Congress had even sent to the coast 
of Africa to purchase gunpowder, his 
magazines still contained but a scanty 
stock of that essential article, and many 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



27 



of his iroops wei-e destitute of muskets. 
But he kept to himself the important 
secret of the deficiency of his stores, 
and patiently submitted to the criticisms 
which were passed on his procrastination, 
till he had made the requisite prepara- 
tions. He then proposed to storm the 
British hnes ; but was advised by his 
council of war, in preference to this 
measure, to take possession of Dor- 
chester heights, an eminence which from 
the southward commands the liarbour 
and city of Boston. To this advice he 
acceded, and having diverted the atten- 
tion of the British garrison by a bon^- 
bardment, which was merely a feint, on 
the night of the 4th of March he pushed 
forward a working party of 1200 men, 
under the protection of a detachment of 
800 troops. The Americans were very 
expert in the use of the spade and pick- 
axe, and by day-break they had com- 
pleted respectable lines of defence. 
The British admiral no sooner beheld 
these preparations, than lie sent word to 
General Howe, that if the Americans 
were not dislodged from their works he 
could not with safety continue in the 
harbour. On the 6th, Howe had com- 
pleted his arrangements for the attack 
of the enemy's lines, and a bloody 
battle was expected ; but the transports 
in which his troops were embarked for 
the purpose of approaching the heights 
by water were dispersed by a storm ; 
and the enemy so industriously took 
advantage of the consequent suspension 
of his operations to strengthen their 
position, that when the storm subsided 
he despaired of success in attacking it. 
Finding the town no longer tenable, he 
evacuted it on the 1 7th of March, and 
sailed with his garrison, which amounted 
to 7000 men, to Halifax in Nova 
Scotia. 

In consequence of an implied threat 
on the part of General Howe, that if he 
was interrupted by any hostile attack 
during the embarkation of his troops, he 
would set fire to the town, the British 
were allowed to retire without molesta- 
tion, though their commander, imme- 
diately before his departure, levied con- 
siderable requisitions for the use of his 
army upon the merchants who were 
possessed of woollen and linen goods; 
and though the soldiery, availing them- 
selves of the relaxation of military disci- 
pline which usually accompanies the 
precipitate movements of troops, in- 
dulged themselves, in defiance of orders 
issued to the contrary, in all the license 



of plunder. Previously to the evacuation 
of the place, Howe spiked all the cannon 
and mortars which he was obliged to 
leave behind him, and demolished the 
fortifications of Castle William. Imme- 
diately on the withdrawing of the royal 
forces, Washington entering Boston in 
triumph, was hailed as a deliverer by 
the acclamations of the inhabitants. 
He also received the thanks of the Con- 
gress and of the legislature of Massa- 
chusetts ; and a medal was struck in 
honour of his services in expelling the 
invaders from his native land. 

The exultation which the Americans 
felt at the expulsion of the British from 
Boston was tempered by the arrival of 
sinister intelligence from Canada. In 
sending an expedition into that country, 
Congress had been influenced by two 
motives : they wished at once to secure 
the junction of the inhabitants of that 
province to their union, and to protect 
their own northern frontier from inva- 
sion. But the Canadians were little 
prepared for the assertion of the prin- 
ciples of freedom ; and the rapacity of 
the unprincipled Arnold, and the mis- 
conduct of his troops, had alienated their 
affections from the common cause. 
Congress, however, by extraordinary 
exertions, sent to the camp before 
Quebec reinforcements, which, by the 
1st of May, increased Arnold's army to 
the number of 3000 men. But his 
forces were unfortunately weakened by 
the ravages of the small-pox ; and rein- 
forcements from England having begun 
to arrive at Quebec, he determined upon 
a retreat. In this retrograde movement 
the American army had to encounter 
difficulties, which to ordinary minds 
would have seemed insurmountable. 
On their march through almost im- 
practicable roads, they were closely fol- 
lowed, and frequently brought to action, 
by an -enemy superior in number. In 
an ill-advised attack on Trois Rivieres 
they sustained considerable loss, and 
their forces were for a time separated, 
and almost dispersed. But notwith- 
standing these disasters. General 
Sullivan, who conducted the retreat, 
contrived to save his baggage, stores, 
and sick, and led back a respectable 
remnant of his army to Crown Point, 
where he resolved to make a stand. 
Being well aware of the necessity of 
guarding this quarter of their frontier 
against the incursions of the British, 
the Congress sent thither an army of 
12,000 inen, imder the command of 



28 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



General Gates, who cast iip strono; 
works at Ticonderoga, and endeavoured 
to retain the command of Lake Cham- 
plain by means of a flotilla, which was 
built and equipped with a rapidity 
hitherto unheard of. General Carleton, 
however, was not behind-hand with him 
in activity. He speedily fitted out a- 
superior armament, by means of wliich 
he took or destroyed almost the whole 
of the American vessels. Havinc; thus 
made himself master of the lake, he 
advanced to the vicinity of Ticonderoga; 
but finding that port too strongly for- 
tified, and too well garrisoned to be 
taken by assault, he returned to Quebec. 
Valour and military skill were not the 
highest characteristics of Sir Guy Carle- 
ton. — The kindness which he mani- 
fested to his prisoners, and especially to 
the sick and wounded of the Americans 
who fell into his hands, entitle him to 
the superior praise of humanity, 

§ 1 7. Declaration of Independence, 4.th 
July, 177G. 

When the British ministry took the 
resolution to coerce the discontented 
colonies by force of arms, they were 
little aware of the difficulty of their un- 
dertaking ; and, consequently, the means 
which they adopted for the execution 
of their designs were by no means com- 
mensurate with the object which they had 
in view. But when they met the par- 
liament in October, 1775, they were 
obliged to confess that the spirit of re- 
sistance to royal authority was widely 
diffused throughout the North American 
provinces, that rebellion had assumed a 
bold front, and had been alarmingly suc- 
cessful. To supply tliem with the means 
of suppressing it, jiarliament readily 
voted the raising and etjuipment of 
28,000 seamen, and 55,000 land forces. 
The bill which provided for this power- 
ful armament also authorized his ma- 
jesty to appoint commissioners, who 
were to \w empowered to grant pardons 
to individuals, to inquire into and redress 
grievances, and to receive any colonies, 
upon their return to obedience, into the 
king's peace. 

When the colonists were apprized of the 
bill liaving been passed into a law, they 
treated the otter of pardon with contempt, 
and contemplated with anger, but not 
with dismay, the formidable preparations 
announced by its provisions. Their irri- 
tation was excited to the highest pitch 
when they were informed that Lord 



North had engaged 16,000 German mer- 
cenaries to assist in their subjugation. 
Nor did this measure escape severe 
animadversion in the British parlia- 
ment. It was warmly censured by 
many mem.bers of the opposition, espe- 
cially by Mr. Adair and Mr. Dunning, 
who maintained that, in engaging the 
services of foreign mercenaries without 
the previous consent of parliament, 
ministers had violated the provision of 
the Bill of Rights, and that by this in- 
fringement of the Constitution they had 
set a ]irecedent which might be made 
available by some future arbitrary mo- 
narch to the destruction of the liberties 
of the country. 

; The command of the British forces was 
given to General Howe, who, in arrang- 
ing the plan of the campaign, deter- 
mined, first, after driving the enemy from 
Canada, to invade their country by the 
north-western frontier. 2dly, to subdue 
the southern colonies ; and, 3dly. to 
strike at the centre of the union by con- 
quering the province of New York, from 
which, by means of the Hudson river, he 
should be able to co-operate with the royal 
army in Canada. The latter province 
having been already rescued from the 
invaders by Sir Guy Carleton, General 
Howe committed the execution of the 
second part of his plan to General Clin- 
ton and Sir Peter Parker, who having 
effected a junction at Cape Fear, re- 
solved to make an attack upon Charles- 
town. They accordingly sailed up Ash- 
ley river, on which that place is situated ; 
but they encountered so determined an 
opposition from a fort hastily erected on 
Sullivan's Island, and commanded by 
Colonel Moultrie, that, after sustaining 
considerable loss of men, and much 
damage to their shipping, they gave up 
their enterprize and sailed to New York. 
The result of this attempt was highly 
favourable to the Americans, as it con- 
soled them for tlieir losses in the north, 
inspired them with new confidence, and, 
for the ensuing two years and a half, 
preserved the southern colonies from 
the presence of a hostile force. 

The command of the principal British 
fleet, destined toco-operate with General 
Howe, had been bestowed upon his 
brother Sir William, who, when his 
equipment was finished, sailed directly 
for Halifax. On his arrival at that 
place, lie found that the general, impa- 
tient of his delay, had proceeded on his 
voyage towards New York, whither he 
im'mediately followed him, and joined 



HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



29 



hlfli at Staten Island. On this junction 
of the two brothers, their forces were 
found to amount to 30,000 men ; and 
never, perhaps, was an army better 
equipped, or more amply provided with 
artillery, stores, and every requisite for 
the carrying on of vigorous and active 
hostilities. Far different was the condi- 
tion of the American commander-in- 
chief. His troops, enlisted for short 
periods, had acquired little discipline. 
They were scantily clothed and imper- 
fectly armed. They were frequently in 
want of ammunition ; and they were ill- 
supplied with provisions. Disaffection 
to the cause of their country was also 
manifested by some of the inhabitants 
of New York, who, at the instigation of 
Governor Tryon, had entered into a 
conspiracy to aid the kings troops on 
their expected arrival. In this plot, 
even, some of the army had been en- 
gaged ; and a soldier of the commander- 
in-chiefs own guard had, by the imani- 
mous sentence of a court martial, been 
sentenced to die for enrolling himself 
among the conspirators, and enlisting 
others in the same traitorous cause. In 
these circumstances Washington could 
not but regard the approaching contest 
with serious uneasiness ; but he, as 
usual, concealed his uneasiness within 
his own bosom, and determined to light 
to the last in the cause of his country. 
His firmness was participated by the 
Congress, who, whilst the storm seemed 
to be gathering thick over their heads, 
beheld it with eyes undismayed, and 
now proceeded with a daring hand to 
strike the decisive stroke which for ever 
separated thirteen flourishing colonies 
from their dependence on the British 
crown. It is possible, nay, it is probable, 
that from the beginning of the disputes 
with the mother country, there may 
have been some few speculators among 
the American politicians, who enter- 
tained some vague notions and some 
uncertain hopes of independence. In 
every age, and in every country, there 
are individuals whose mental view ex- 
tends to a wider circle than that of tlie 
community at large, and unhappy is 
their destiny if they attempt to bring 
their notions into action, or even to pro- 
mulgate them before the season is ripe 
unto the harvest. But no such precipi- 
tancy was found amongst the partisans 
of American liberty. Like Franklin, for 
year after year, they limited their wishes 
to an exemption from parliamentary 



taxation, and to a preservation of their 
chartered rights and privileges. But 
the violent measures of the British mi- 
nisters altered their sentiments, and the 
spectacle of their countrymen mustering 
in arms to resist ministerial oppression, 
prompted them to bolder daring. Find- 
ing that the British cabinet had hired 
foreign troops to assist in their subjuga- 
tion, they foresaw that they might be 
reduced to apply to foreign aid to help 
them in their resistance against oppres- 
sion. But what power would lend them 
aid whilst they retained the character of 
subjects of his Britannic Majesty. Sen- 
timents such as these, having been in- 
dustriously and successfully dissemi- 
nated throughout the union, the Congress 
on the 4th of July, 177G, whilst the 
formidable array of the British fleet was 
hovering on their coasts, on the motion 
of Mr. Richard Henry Lee, representa- 
tive of Virginia, passed their celebrated 
declaration of independence, by which 
act they for ever withdrew their allegi- 
ance from the king of Great Britain. 
This important document is couched in 
the following terms :-^ 

" When, in the course of human 
events, it becomes necessary for one 
people to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with ano- 
ther, and to assume among the powers 
of the earth, the separate and equal 
station to which the laws of nature and 
of nature's God entitle them, a decent 
respect to the opinions of mankind re- 
quires that they should declare the causes 
which impel them to the separation. 

" We hold these truths to be self-evi- 
dent, that all men are created equal ; that 
they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain unalienable rights, that among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness ; that to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, 
deriving their just powers from the con- 
sent of the governed ; that whenever any 
form of government becomes destructive 
of these ends, it is the right of the people 
to alter or to abolish it, and to institute 
new government, laying its foundation 
on such principles, and organizing its 
power in such form, as to them shall 
seem most likely to effect their safety 
and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will 
dictate that governments long esta- 
blished, should not be changed for light 
and transient causes ; and, accordingly, 
all experience hath shewn, that mankind 
are more disposed to suffer, while evils 



30 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



are sufFerabie, than to right themselves 
by abi)lishino^ the forms 1o which they 
are accustomed. ]3at when a lona: train 
of abuses and usurpations, pursuing in- 
variably tlie same object, evinces a design 
to reduce them under absolute despotism, 
it is their right — it is their duty, to throw 
off such government, and to provide new 
guards for their future security. Such 
has been the patient sufferance of these 
colonies, and such is now the necessity 
which constrains tlvera to alter their 
former system of government. The 
history of the present King of Great Bri- 
tain, is a history of repeated injuries and 
usurpations, all having in direct object, 
the establishment of an absolute tyranny 
over these states. To prove this, let 
facts be submitted to a candid world. 

" He has refused his assent to laws 
the most wholesome and necessary for 
the public good. 

" He has forbidden his governors to 
pass laws of immediate and pressing 
importance, unless suspended in tlieir 
operation till his assent should be ob- 
tained ; and when so suspended, he has 
utterly neglected to attend to them. 

" He has refused to pass other laws 
for the accommodation of large districts 
of people, unless those people would 
relinquish the right of representation in 
the legislature — a right inestimable to 
them, and formidable to tyrants only, 

" He has called together legislative 
bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, 
and distant from the depository of their 
public records, for the sole purjiose of 
fatiguing them into compliance with his 
measures. 

" He has dissolved representative 
houses repeatedly, for opposing, with 
manly fumness, his invasions on the 
rights of his people. 

" He has refused, for a longtime after 
such dissolutions, to cause others to be 
elected, whereby tlie legislative powers, 
incapable of annihilation, have returned 
to the people at large for their exercise ; 
the state remaining in the mean time 
exposed to all the danger of inva- 
sion from without, and convulsions 
within. 

" lie has endeavoured to prevent the 
population of these slates, for that pur- 
pose obstructing the laws for naturali- 
zation of foreigners, refusing to pass 
others to encourage their migration 
hither, and raising ihe conditions of new 
appropriations ot lands. 

" He has obstructed the administra- 



tion of justice, by refusing his assent to 
laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

" He has made judges dependent on 
his will alone for the tenure of their offices 
and the amount and payment of their 
salaries. 

" He has erected a multitude of new 
offices, and sent hither swarms of officers 
to harass our people, and eat out their 
substance. 

" He has kept among us, in time of 
peace, standing armies, without the con- 
sent of our legislatures. 

" He has affected to render the mili- 
tary independent of, and superior to, the 
the civil power. 

" He has combined with others to 
subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our 
constitution, and unacknowledged by our 
laws, giving his assent to their acts of 
pretended, legislation ; 

" For quartering large bodies of armed 
troops among us ; 

" For protecting them, by a mock trial, 
from punishment for any murders which 
they should commit on the inhabitants 
of these states ; 

" For cutting off our trade with all 
parts of the world ; 

" For imposing taxes upon us without 
our consent ; 

" For depriving us, in many cases, of 
the benefits of trial by jury ; 

" For transporting us beyond the seas 
to be tried for pretended offences ; 

" For abolishing the free system of 
English laws in a neighbouring pro- 
vince, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boun- 
daries, so as to render it at once an 
example and fit instrument for intro- 
ducing the same absolute rule into these 
colonies ; 

" For taking away our charters, abo- 
lishing our most valuable laws, and 
altering fundamentally the form of our 
governments ; 

" For suspending our own legisla- 
tures, and declaring themselves invested 
with power to legislate for us in all 
cases whatsoever. 

" He has abdicated government here, 
by declaring us out of his protection, 
and waging war against us. 

" He has plundered our seas, ravaged 
om* coasts, burnt our towns, and de- 
stroyed the lives of our people. 

" He is, at this time, transporting 
large armies of foreign mercenaries to 
complete tlie works of death, desolation, 
and tyranny already begun, with circum- 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



31 



stances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely 
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, 
and totally unworthy the head of ^a ci- 
vilized nation. 

" He has constrained our fellow 
citizens, taken captive on the high seas, 
to bear arms against their country, to 
become the executioners of their friends 
and brethren, or to fail themselves by 
their hands. 

" He has excited domestic insurrec- 
tions among us, and has endeavoured 
to bring on the inhabitants of our fron- 
tiers, the merciless Indian savages ; 
whose known rule of warfare is an 
undistinguished destruction of all ages, 
sexes, and conditions. 

" In every stage of these oppressions 
we have petitioned for redress in the 
most humble terms ; our repeated pe- 
titions have been answered only by 
repeated injury. A prince, whose cha- 
racter is thus marked by every act 
which may define a tyrant, is unfit to 
be the ruler of a free people. 

" Nor have we been wanting in at- 
tention to our British brethren. We 
have warned them from time to time of 
attempts made by their legislature to 
extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction 
over us. We have reminded them of 
the circumstances of our emigration and 
settlement here. We have appealed to 
their native justice and magnanimity, 
and we have conjured them, by the ties 
of our common kindred, to disavow 
these usurpations, which would inevi- 
tably interrupt our connexions and 
correspondence. They too have been 
deaf to the voice of justice and consan- 
guinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce 
in the necessity, which denounces our 
separation, and hold them as we hold 
the rest of mankind — enemies in war, 
in peace, friends. 

" We, therefore, the representatives 
of the United States of America, in Ge- 
neral Congress assembled, appealing 
to the Supreme Judge of the world 
for the rectitude of our intentions, 
do in the name, and by authority 
of the good people of these colonies, 
solemnly publish and declare, that 
these united colonies are, and of rii;ht 
ought to be, FREE and independent 
STATES ; that they are absolved from all 
allegiance to the British crown ; and 
that all political connexion between 
them and the state of Great Britain is, 
and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and 
that, as free and independent states, 



they have full power to levy war, con- 
elude peace, contract alliances, estabhsh 
commerce, and do all other acts and 
things which independent states may, of 
right, do. And, for the support of this de- 
claration, with a firm reliance on the pro- 
tection of Divine Providence.we mutually 
pledge to each other our lives, our for- 
tunes, and our sacred honour. ' 

§ 18. Capture of Long Island, 2Qth 
August, 1776. 

General Washington was well aware 
that New York would be the first object 
of attack on the part of the British ; and 
despairing of being able to encounter 
them in the open field, he resolved to 
protract the approaching campaign by 
carrying on a war of posts. With this 
view, after fortifying Long Island, he 
threw up various entrenchments on New 
York Island, which is bounded on the 
west by the Hudson, and on the south 
and east by East River, whilst to the 
north it is separated from the main land 
by a narrow channel which unites these 
two streams. He also constructed two 
forts, the one on the Hudson named 
Fort Washington, by which he proposed 
to maintain his communication with 
Jersey, whilst the other, called Fort Lee, 
connected his defence with the province 
of New York. Whilst he was making 
these preparations he received from 
Pennsylvania a seasonable reinforcement 
of 10,000 men, raised for the express 
purpose of forming a flying camp ; but 
he was disappointed in his expectation 
of the aid of a large body of militia. In- 
dependently of the flyingcamp, his forces, 
at this moment of peril, amounted only 
to 17,225 men. 

Before commencing hostilities, the 
Howes, with a view of conciliation, or 
of detaching the wavering amongst the 
colonists from the cause of the Con- 
gress, issued a proclamation, offering 
pardon to such of his majesty's rebel- 
lious subjects as would lay down their 
arms, and announcing their powers, on 
the fulfilment of certain conditions, to 
receive any colony, district, or place, 
into the king's peace. This proclamation 
produced no effect beyond the districts 
from time to time occupied l)y the royal 
army. General Howe also endeavoured 
to open a correspondence with Wash- 
ington, for the purpose of laying a 
ground for the amicable adjustment of 
all differences between the colonies and 



32 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION". 



the mother country ; but as the British 
commander did not recognize the offi- 
cial character of Washington in the 
address of his letter, it was returned 
unopened, and thus this attempt at ne- 
gociation failed. 

Those who are accustomed to the 
rapid proceedings of more modern war- 
fare, cannot give to General Howe the 
praise due to activity. Though he 
arrived at Staten Island on the lOth of 
June, it was not till the 26th of August 
that he commenced active operations 
against the enemy by an attack on Long 
Island, on the north-western part of 
which a respectable force of Americans, 
commanded by General Sullivan, occu- 
pied an entrenched camp. Their position 
was protected in front by a range of hills 
stretching across the island, from the 
Nan-ows, a strait which separates it 
from Staten Island, to the town of Ja- 
maica, situated on the southern coast. 
Over the hills in question pass three 
defensible roads, each of which was 
guarded by 800 men. The pass by the 
Narrows was attacked and carried by 
General Grant— the second, by Flatbush, 
was cleared by General de Heister, in 
retreating before whom the Americans 
were encountered by General Clinton,who 
with the right wing of the British army, 
had made a detour by Jamaica. Thus 
the provincials were driven into their lines 
with the loss of upwards of 1000 men, 
whilst the British loss did not amount 
to more than 450. During the engage- 
ment Washington had sent strong 
reinforcements into Long Island, and, 
at its close, he repaired thither in 
person with the greater part of his army. 
This movement had nearly occasioned 
his ruin. He soon found himself cooped 
up in a corner, with a superior force in 
front prepared to attack his works, 
which were untenable. In these cir- 
cumstances his only safety lay in retreat. 
It was a difficult operation to convey a 
whole army across a ferry in the pre- 
sence of an enemy, whose working 
parties could be heard by his sentries. 
But favoured by the darkness of the 
night, and by a fog which arose in the 
mornins, he transported the whole of 
his force to New York, leaving nothing 
behind him but some heavy cannon. 

§ 19. Evacuation of New York, \st 
September, 1776. 

Among the prisoners taken by the 
British on Long Island was General 



Sullivan, whom General Howe sent on 
his parole with a message to Congress, 
renewing his offers to negociate for an 
amicable accommodation. The Con- 
gress sent a committee of three of their 
body — Dr. Franklin, John Adams, and 
Edward Rutledge, to confer with him 
on the subject of his communication. 
These deputies were received with great 
politeness by General Howe ; but, after 
a full discussion with the British com- 
mander, they reported to Congress that 
his ])roposals were unsatisfactory, and 
his powers insufficient. Their report 
concluded in the following terms : — " It 
did not appear to your Committee that 
his lordship's commission contained 
any other authority than that expressed 
by the act of parliament — namely, that 
of granting pardons, with such excep- 
tions as the commissioners shall think 
proper to make, and of declaring Ame- 
rica or any part of it to be in the king's 
peace on submission : for, as to the 
power of inquiring into the state of 
America, which his lordship mentioned 
to us, and of conferring and consulting 
with any persons the commissioners 
might think proper, and representing 
the result of such conversation to the 
ministry, who, provided the colonies 
would subject themselves, might, after 
all, or might not, at their pleasure, 
make any alterations in the former in- 
structions to governors, or propose in 
parliament any amendment of the acts 
complained of; we apprehend any ex- 
pectation from theefi'ect of such a power 
would have been too uncertain and pre- 
carious to be relied on by America, had 
she still continued in her state of de- 
pendence." This attempt at negotia- 
tion having thus fruitlessly terminated, 
nothing was left but to decide the dis- 
pute by arms. 

The Congress embraced this alter- 
native in cu'cumstances which would 
have reduced men of less resolute spirits 
to despair. Their army was so dispirited 
by the events which had taken place in 
Long Island, that the militia began to 
desert, and the constancy of some of 
the regulars was shaken. They were 
apprized, too, that \Vashington foresaw 
tlie necessity of making a series of 
retrograde movements, which were 
calculated to cloud the public mind 
with despondency. The prognostics of 
the general were soon verified. On the 
l;3tii of September, General Howe 
effected a landing on New York Island, 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



33 



and compelled him to evacuate the 
city of New York, and to retire to the 
north end of the island. Here Howe 
unaccountably suffered him to remain 
unmolested for nearly four weeks, at 
the end of which time he manoeuvred 
to compel him to give him battle on the 
island. Dreading the being reduced to 
this perilous necessity, the American 
commander withdrew to the White 
Plains, taking, however, every oppor- 
tunity to front the enemy, and engaging 
in partial actions, which in some degree 
kept the British in check. At length he 
crossed the Hudson, and occupied some 
strong ground on the Jersey shore of 
that river, in the neighbourhood of Fort 
Lee. He had no sooner evacuated New 
York Island than General Howe at- 
tacked and took Fort Washington, in 
which he made 2700 men prisoners, at 
the cost, however, of 1 200 men on his side 
killed and wounded. Fort Lee was shortly 
after evacuated by its garrison, and 
taken possession of by Lord Cornwallis. 
Following up these successes. General 
Howe pursued the flying Americans to 
Newark, and from Newark to Bruns- 
wick, and from Brunswick successively 
to Princeton and Trenton, till at length 
he drove them to the Pennsylvania 
side of the Delaware. Nothing could 
exceed the distress which the American 
army suffered diunng this retreat through 
the Jerseys. They were destitute of 
blankets and shoes, and their clothing 
was reduced to rags. They were coldly 
looked upon by the inhabitants, who 
gave up the cause of America for lost, 
and hastened to make their peace with 
the victors. Had General Howe been 
able to maintain discipline in his army, 
Jersey would have been severed from 
the Union. But, fortunately for the 
interests of the congress, his troops 
indulged in all the excesses of military 
violence, and irritated the inhabitants 
of the country to such a degree, that 
their new-born loyalty was speedily ex- 
tinct, and all their thoughts were bent 
upon revenge. 

§ 20. Battle of Trenton, 28fh December, 
1776. 

On the approach of the British to 
the Delaware, congress adjourned its 
sittings from Philadelphia to Baltimore, 
and it was expected that General Howe 
would speedily make his triumphal 
entry into the Pennsylvanian capital. 
But a bold manoeuvre of Washington 



suddenly turned the tide of success. 
On his arrival at the Delav^-are, his 
troops were dwindled down to the number 
of 3000 ; but having received some rein- 
forcements of Pennsylvanian militia, he 
determined to endeavour to retrieve his 
fortunes by a decisive stroke. The 
British troops were cantoned in Bur- 
lington, Bordenton, and Trenton, wait- 
ing for the formation of the ice to cross 
into Pennsylvania. Understanding that 
in the confidence produced by a series 
of successes, they were by no means 
vigilant, he conceived the possibility of 
taking them by surprise. He accord- 
ingly, on the evening of Christmas 
Day, conveyed the main body of his 
army over the Delaware, and falling 
upon the troops quartered m Trenton, 
killed and captured about 900 of them, 
and recrossed into Pennsylvania with his 
prisoners. On the 28th of December 
he again took possession of Trenton, 
where he was soon encountered by a 
superior force of British, who drove in 
his advanced parties, and entered the 
town in the evening, with the intention 
of giving him battle the next morning. 
The two armies were separated only by 
a narrow creek which runs throu-gh the 
town. In such a position it should 
seem to be impossible that any move- 
ment on the one side or on the other could 
pass unobserved. But in the darkness 
of the night, Washington, leaving his 
fires lighted, and a few guards to attract 
the attention of the enemy, quitted his 
encampment, and, crossing a bridge 
over the creek, which had been left 
unguarded, directed his march to 
Princeton, where, after a short but 
brisk engagement, he killed 60 of the 
British, and took 300 prisoners. The 
rest of the royal forces were dispersed 
and fled in different directions. Great 
was the surprise of Lord Cornwallis, 
who commanded the British army at 
Trenton, when the report of the artillery 
at Princeton, which he at first mistook 
for thunder, and the arrival of breath- 
less messengers, apprized him that the 
enemy was m his rear. Alarmed by 
the danger of his position, he com- 
menced a retreat ; and, being harassed 
by the militia and the countrymen who 
had suffered from the outrages perpe- 
trated by his troops on their advance, 
he did not deem himself in safety till he 
arrived at Brunswick, from whence, hy 
means of the Rariton, he had a com- 
munication with New York. 

This splendid success inspired the 
D 



34 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



Americans with renewed spirits. Re- 
cruits were readily raised for tiieir 
army, wliicli toolv up its winter quar- 
ters at Morristovvn, about thirty miles 
to the northward of Brunswick: here 
both the officers and soldiers were in- 
oculated for the small-pox. During this 
interval of comparative leisure, Wash- 
ington ursjenlly renewed the represen- 
tations which he had before frequently 
made to the cong:ress, of the necessity of 
abandonino; the system of enlisting men 
for limited terms of service. The dread 
justly entertained by that body of a stand- 
ing army had hitherto induced them to 
listen coldly to his remonstrances on this 
point. But the experience of the last 
campaign corrected their views, and 
they resolved to use their utmost exer- 
tion to raise an army pledged to serve 
till the conclusion of the war. The free 
spirit of the Americans, however, could 
not brook enlistment for a time so un- 
defined, and the congress theiefore is- 
sued proposals for a levy of soldiers to be 
en<raged for three years, at the same time 
offering a bounty of 100 acres of land 
to those who would accept their first 
proposals. Though these measures in 
the end proved effectual, their accom- 
plishment was slow, and in the spring of 
1777, Washington's whole force did not 
amount to more than 1500 men ; but 
with these inconsiderable numbers he so 
disposed his posts, that with the occa- 
sional assistance of the New Jersey mili- 
tia and volunteers, he for some weeks 
kept the Bri'ish in check at Brunswick. 
At this period, the difficulties under 
which he had so long laboured from the 
want of arms and military stores, were 
alleviated by the arrival of upwards of 
20,000 mus'vets and 1000 bairels of 
powder, which had been procured in 
France and Holland by the agency of 
the celel)rated dramatist, Carron de 
Beaumarchais. 

Late in the spring of 1777, however, 
the utmost exertions of congress in for- 
warding the recruiting service could put 
no more than 7272 effec* ve men at the 
disposal of General W» niniiton. With 
this small force it w ,s manifestly iiis 
policy to gain time, and by occupying 
advantageous ground, to avoid l)eing 
forced to a general engairement. With 
a view, however, of inspiriting his coun- 
trymen, he took the field before the 
enemy had quitted their winter-quarters, 
and towards the end of May lie made a 
movement from Morristown to Middle- 
brook, where he encamped in a strong 



position. General Howe no sooner 
heard that the Americans were in mo- 
tion, than he advanced from Brunswick 
to Somerset-court House, apparently 
with an intention of pushing for the 
Delaware ; but the country rising in 
arms on every side of him, he was de- 
terred from prosecuting this design, and 
hastily measured back his steps to his 
former position. On their retreat, his 
troops committed great ravages, and 
particularly incensed the inhabitants by 
burning some of their places of worship. 
After frequently trying in vain to entice 
Washington from his strong position, 
General Howe at length retired to Am- 
boy. There learning that his adversary 
had descended to Quibbletown, he has- 
tened back to attack him ; but had the 
mortification on his arrival at the spot 
lately occupied by the Americans, to 
learn that his vigilant foe had withdrawn 
into his fastnesses. Despairing of being 
able to penetrate into Pennsylvania by 
the way of the Jerseys, he passed over 
into Staten Island, from which point he 
resolved to prosecute the future views of 
his campaign by the assistance of his 
fleet. AVhat those views might be, it 
was difficult for Washington to ascer- 
tain. The whole coast of the United 
States was open to the British com- 
mander-in-chief. He might at his plea- 
sure sail to the north or to the south. 
General Washington was inclined to be- 
lieve that his intention was to move up 
Hudson's river to co-operate with Ge- 
neral Burgoyne, who was advancing 
with a large army on the Canadian fron- 
tier ; and, impressed with this idea, he 
moved a part of his army to Peek's Kill, 
whilst he posted another portion at 
Trenton, to be ready, if required, to 
march to the relief of Philadelphia. 
Whilst he was in this state of uncer- 
tainty, he received intelligence that Howe 
had embarked with 10,000 men, and 
had steered to the southward. Stiil ap- 
prehending that this might l)e a feint, 
he cast an anxious eye to the north- 
ward, till he was furtiier informed lliat 
the British general, after looking into 
the Delaware, had proceeded to the 
Chesajjeak. The plans of the invaders 
were then clearly developed. It was 
evident that they intended to march 
through the nortliern part of the state 
of Delaware, and lal<e possession of 
Philadeljjhia. Much time was lost to 
tile British by their voyage, in conse- 
quence of unfavourable winds. Though 
tiiey set sail on the 23rd of July, they 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



35 



did not arrive at Elk-ferry, the place 
fixed upon for their landing, till the 
25th of August. General Howe had no 
sooner disembarked his troops than he 
advanced through the country l)y forced 
marches, to within two miles of the 
American army, which, having pro- 
ceeded rapidly from Jersey to the pre- 
sent scene of action, was stationed at 
Newport. 

§ 21. Capture of Philadelphia, 
2Cth September, 1776. 

On the approach of the enemy Gene- 
ral Washington resolved to dispute their 
passage over the Brandywine Creek. 
In taking this step he appears to have 
acted contrary to his better judgment. 
By throwing himself upon the high 
ground to his right, he might have 
brought on a war of posts, much better 
adapted to the capacities of his undisci- 
plined forces, than a battle fought on 
equal terms. But he dreaded the im- 
pression which would be made upon 
the public feeling, should he leave the 
road to Philadelphia open, and yielded 
to tlie general voice which called upon 
him to fight for the preservation of the 
seat of the American government. The 
action was fought at Chadd's ford, on 
the Brandywine, on the 11th of Sep- 
tember. On this occasion Howe shewed 
his generalship by the skilfulness of his 
combinations. While a part of his army, 
under the command of General Knyp- 
hausen, made a false attack at the ford, 
a strong column, headed by Lord Corn- 
wallis, crossing the Brandywine at its 
fork, turned the left of the Americans, 
and Knyphausen forcing a passage at 
that moment of alarm and confusion, 
the Americans gave way, and retired to 
Chester, their retreat being covered by 
Wooster's brigade, which preserved its 
ranks unbroken. Their loss in killed 
and wounded amounted to 1200. 
Among the latter was the Marquis de 
la Fayette, who, inspired with zeal for 
the cause of freedom, had, at the age of 
nineteen, quitted his country at con- 
sideralile hazard, and entered into the 
American army, in which he at once 
obtained the rank of major-2,eneral. 
By tlie event of the battle of the Brandy- 
wine the country was in a great degree 
open to the British. Washington in 
vain made one or two attempts to im- 
pede their progress, and on the 26th of 
September, General Howe made his 
triumphant entry into Philadelphia. On 



his approach the congi-ess, who had 
returned thither from Baltimore, once 
more took flight, and withdrew first to 
Lancaster and afterwards to York 
town. 

General Howe, on marching to the 
Pennsylvanian capital, had left a con- 
siderable number of troops at German- 
town, a few miles from that place. As 
these were unsupported by the main 
body of his armv. General Washington 
determined upon an attempt to cut them 
off. His plan was well laid, and the 
forces which he despatched on this ex- 
pedition took the enemy by surprise, 
and at first drove all before them. But 
a check having been given them by a 
small party of the British who had 
thrown themselves into a stone house, 
they were soon opposed by the fugitives 
who had rallied in force, and obliged to 
retreat with loss. 

When General Howe quitted New 
York for the purpose of gaining pos- 
session of Philadelphia, he was deterred 
from making his approaches by the 
Delaware, by the preparations made by 
the Americans to obstruct the naviga- 
tion of that river. The principal of 
these consisted of a fort erected on Mud 
Island, which is situated in the middle of 
the river, about seven miles belov/ the 
city. On a height on the Jersey side of 
the river, called Red Bank, they had 
erected a strong battery. The Channels 
on both sides of Mud Island were closed 
l)y strong and heavy chevaux de frize, 
through which was left a single passage 
closecf by a boom. As it was absolutely 
necessary to make himself master of 
these works, in order to open a com- 
munication with his fleet. General Howe 
gave orders that they should be forced. 
In his first attack he was unsuccessful. 
In storming the battery of Red Bank, 
Count Donop was mortally wounded, 
and his troops were repulsed with con- 
siderable loss. But the bulk of the 
chevaux de frize having, by diverting the 
current of the river, deepened the chan- 
nel on the Pennsylvania side of Mud 
Island, a ship of war mounted with 
twenty-four pounders was warped 
through it into a position where she 
could"enfi!ade llie fort, which, being no 
longer tenal^le, the garrison retired from 
it to Red Bank. By these operations 
General Howe obtained full command 
of the Delaware, and by its means every 
facility for the conveyance of supplies 
to his army. 
Mr. Hancock having on the 29th of 
D 2 



3G 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



October of this year resie:ned the 
presidency of eon2;i-t'ss, on the 1st of 
November ensuinir, Mr. Henry Laurens 
was appointed to succeed him. 

§ 22. Burgoyne's Expedition. 

When the news of General Howe's 
successes arrived in England, the great 
majority of the nation were transpoited 
with joy. In the defeat of Washington, 
the capture of Philadelphia, and the ex- 
pulsion of the congress, the members of 
which were represented as miserable 
fugitives, seeking in trembling anxiety 
for a temporary shelter from the ven- 
geance of the law, they fondly saw an 
earnest of the termination of the war by 
the submission of the rebels. But their 
exultation was speedily damped by the 
annunciation of the capture by these 
very rebels of a whole British army. 

A cursory inspection of the map of 
the United States will suffice to shew, 
that for the purpose of their sub- 
jugation it was at this period of high 
importance to the British to form a 
communication with Canada by means 
of Hudson's River. This would have 
intersected the insurgent provinces, 
and by cutting off their intercourse 
with each other, and by hemming 
in the eastern states, which the Bri- 
tish ministry regarded as the soul of 
the rebellious confederacy, would have 
exposed them to be overrun and con- 
quered in detail. General Howe, 
therefore, was directed by the ministry 
to o]jerafe with a part of his array north- 
wards from New York, whilst General 
Burgoyne was instructed to enter the 
stale of New York by its north-western 
frontier, and to make his way good to 
Albany, where it was intended that he 
should" form a junction with the forces 
which Howe should send to co-operate 
with him. The expediency of this plan 
was so obvious that it did not escape the 
foresight of the Americans, who, in 
order to obviate it, had strongly fortified 
Ticonderoga, and the adjacent height of 
]\Iount Independence. They had also 
taken measures to ol^struct the passage 
from Lake Champlain, and had more- 
over strengthened the defences of the 
]\Iohawk river. For garrisoning (hese 
posts, and for conducting the requisite 
operations in the field, they gave orders 
to raise an army of l.'5,G00 men. 

Tlie British army destined to act 
under Burgoyne consisted of 7000 re- 
gulars, furnished with every requisite 



for war, especially with a fine train of 
artillery. These were supported by a 
number of Canadians, and a consider- 
able body of Indians. It was ar- 
ranged in the plan of the campaign, 
that whilst Burgoyne, at the head of 
these forces, should pour into the state 
of New York, from Lake Chami)lain, 
a detachment under the command of 
Colonel St. Leger should march to- 
wards Lake Ontario, and penetrate in 
the direction of Albany, by the Moiiawk 
river, which falls into the Hudson a 
little above that town. 

General Burgoyne arrived at Quebec 
on the Gth of May, and immediately 
putting himself at the head of his army, 
he proceeded up Lake Champlain to 
Crown Point. Here he was joined by 
the Indians, to whom he made a speech, 
in which he inculcated upon them the 
virtue of mildness, and strictly forbade 
them to destroy any persons except m. 
battle. An ancient Iroquois chieftain, 
in the name of his comrades, promised 
strict compliance with the general's 
injunctions. From Crown Point the 
royal army directed its march to Ticon- 
deroga. Here General Burgoyne ex- 
pected to encounter a powerful oppo- 
sition, as he well knew that the Ameri- 
cans had flattered themselves that by 
the fortifications which they had erected 
on it, they had rendered it almost im- 
pregnable. But the forces which had 
been destined to its defence had not 
arrived. General St. Clair had not 
men enough to man his lines. He saw 
his position nearly surrounded by the 
enemy, who were erecting a battery on 
a hill which commanded his intrench- 
ments. In these circumstances, a 
council of war unanimously recom- 
mended to their commander the evacu- 
ation of Ticonderog-d, which he effected 
with such good order and secresy, that 
he was enabled to bring off a great part 
of the public stores. He left behind 
him, however, ninety-three pieces of 
ordnance, which fell info the hands of 
the British. Tlie retreating Americans 
took the road to Skeensborough, which 
is situated at the southern extremity of 
Lake George. In their flight they were 
briskly pursued by General Fraser by 
land, whilst Burgoyne attai;ked and 
destroyed their flotilhi on Lake George ; 
and so closely were they pressed by tliis 
combined movement, that they were 
compelled to set fire to their stores and 
boats at Skeensborough, and take 
refuge in Fort Anne, a few miles to the 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



37 



southward of that place. Here, how- 
ever, they did not long find shelter. 
Their rear guard was attacked and 
routed by Colonel Fraser, at Hubberd- 
ton ; and Lieutenant-Colonel Hill hav- 
ing been sent forward from Skeens- 
borough, by General Burgoyne, with 
the 9th regiment of foot, to make an 
assault on Fort Anne, the provincials, 
after a short, but brisk engagement, 
withdrew to Fort Edward, which is 
situated on the Hudson river. Here 
their scattered forces being collected, 
were found to amount to no more than 
4400 men, who being unable to cope 
with their victorious pursuers, soon 
found themselves under the necessity of 
making another retrograde movement 
in the direction of Albany. This long 
series of successes filled the minds of 
the British with exultation. They had 
beaten the enemy in every encoimter ; 
had forced them from their fastnesses, 
and entertained sanguine hopes of driving 
them before them till the co-operating 
force which they presumed General 
Howe was sending up the Hudson 
should intercept their retreat, and put 
them between two fires. Burgoyne 
issued proclamations in the style of a 
conqueror, summoning the inhabitants 
of the district in which he was opera- 
ting to aid his pursuit of the fugitive 
rebels. The assistance which he called 
for was very necessary, not for pur- 
suit, but defence — his difficulties were 
now commencing. Instead of falling- 
back from Skeensborough to Ticonde- 
roga, and advancing from the latter 
place by Lake George, (a movement 
which he declined, as having the appear- 
ance of a retreat,) he determined to 
march across the country from Skeens- 
borough to Fort Edward ; but the road 
was so broken up — it was so intersected 



$ 23. Failure of Burgoyne s Expedition. 

This delay gave the Americans time 
to recover from the consternation into 
which they had been thrown by the 
loss of Ticonderoga, and the subse- 
quent misfortunes of their army. De- 
termined to make amends for their 
previous dilatoriness by instant activity, 
they flew to arms. The plundering of 
Jersey had taught them that peaceable 
conduct and submission aftbrded no 
protection against British rapine ; and 
they were persuaded, that whatever 
miijht be the wishes of General Burgoyne, 
he had not power to restrain his Indian 
auxiliaries from practising their ac- 
customed savage mode of warfare. Look- 
ing for safety, then, only to their swords, 
and judging from their knowledge of the 
country, that the farther the British 
commander advanced, the greater would 
be his difficul'.ies, they hastened their 
reinforcements from every town and 
hamlet in the vicinity of the seat of war, 
and soon increased the army of St. 
Clair to the number of 13,000 men. 

Whilst General Burgoyne was making 
his way to the Hudson, Lieutenant- 
Colonel St. Leger had arrived at the 
Mohawk river, and was laying siege to 
Fort Schuyler. Receiving intelligence 
that General Harkimer was hastening 
at the head of a body of troops to the 
relief of the place, he sent a detachment 
with instructions to lie in ambush on his 
line of march, and to cut him off. 
These instructions were so well obeyed, 
that Harkimer fell into the snare, his 
troops were dispersed, and he himself 
was killed. St. Leger now entertained 
sanguine hopes of speedily taking the 
fort ; but the Indians who composed a 
considerable part of his little army, 
takina; alarm at the news of the ap- 



with creeks and rivulets, the bridges proach of General Arnold, at the head 

over which had been broken down, and of a detachment, whose numbers were 

so much embarrassed with trees cut purposely exaggerated by an Ameiucan 
down on each side, and thrown across 



insisted 



it with entangled branches, that it 
was with immense labour he could ad- 
vance a mile a day. When he had at 
length penetrated to Fort Edward, 
which he reached on the 30th of July, 
he found it abandoned by the enemy, 
who by their retreat left free his com- 
munication with Lake George, from 
which he obtained supplies of stores 
and provisions conveyed by land from 
Fort George to Hudson's river, and 
thence floated down to his camp. 



emissary m their camp, msisted on 
an immediate retreat. This mutiny 
comi)elled St. Leger to raise the siege, 
and to retire to Canada, leaving be- 
hind him a great part of his artillery 
and stores. 

When General Burgoyne was in- 
formed of the arrival of St. Leger before 
Fort Schuyler, he thought it very expe- 
dient to make a forward movement 
towards Albany, for the purpose of co- 
operating with that officer, and also 
with the British troops who were, as he 



38 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



expected, aclvancin2^ up the Hudson. 
The principal objoction to this step 
was, that it would necessarily re- 
move him to a perilous distance from 
liis supplies, which were collected at 
Fort Edward. With a view, there- 
fore, of procurins; a plentiful stock of 
provisions from a nearer point, he de- 
spatched Lieutenant- Col. 13aum with 
(i{)() men, of whom 100 were Indians, 
with instructions to seize and convey to 
his camp a considerable magazine of 
flour anci other supi)lies which the Ame- 
ricans had estal)lished at Bennington, 
in tlie district of Vermont. Baum, 
hL'ing erroneously informed that the in- 
habitants of that part of the country 
were favourably disposed towards the 
British, maiched forwards without due 
precaution, till, on approaching Benning- 
ton, he found the enemy assembled in 
force in his front. In this exigency he 
took possession of an advantageous 
post, where he entrenched himself, and 
sent to Burgoyne for succour. Colonel 
Breyman was detached to reinforce him ; 
but before the arrival of that officer, 
the fate of his countryman was decided. 
Baum had been attacked by the Ame- 
rican general Starkie, had lost his field- 
pieces, and had witnessed tiie death or 
capture of most of his detachment. On 
his arrival at the scene of slaughter, 
Breyman was also vigorously assailed, 
and conijielled to retreat with the loss 
of his artillery. 

The failure of this expedition was 
most disastrous to the British com- 
mander- in-chief, who, being disappointed 
of receiving the expected supplies from 
Vermont, was obliged to await the 
arrival of provisions from Fort George, 
by which he was delayed from the 15lh 
of August to the 13th of September. 
This interval of time was well improved 
by the Americans, who, flushed with 
their success against Baum and Brey- 
man, pressed on the liritish with in- 
cieased numbers and increased con- 
fidence. They were also cheered to 
vigorous exertion by the arrival at 
this critical moment of General Gates, 
who was commissioned by Congress 
to take the command of the Nortliern 
army. 

Alter most anxious deliberation, Ge- 
neral Burgoyne, having by extraordinary 
excTtions collected provisions for thirty 
days, crossed the Hudson river on the 
13iii ot Sepieml)er, and advanced to 
within two miles of General Gates's 



camp, which was situated about three 
miles to the northward of Stillwater. 
Gates boldly advanced to meet him, and 
a hard fouglit battle ensued, which, 
though not decisive, was very detri- 
mental to the British, as it shook the 
fidelity of their Indian allies and of the 
Canadians, who now began to desert in 
great numbers. The desertion of the 
Indians was accelerated by tlie follow- 
ing tragical incident. Miss M'Rea, an 
iVmenean lady, who resided in the vici- 
nity of the British encampment, being 
engaged to marry Captam Jones, an 
officer of Burgoyne's army, her lover, 
being anxious for her safety, as he un- 
derstood that her attachment to himself 
and the loyalty of her father had ren- 
dered her an object of persecution to 
her countrymen, engaged some Indians 
to escort her within the British lines, 
promising to reward the person who 
should bring her safe to him, with a 
barrel of rum. Two of these emissaries 
having found the destined bride, and 
communicated to her their commission, 
she, without hesitation, consented to ac- 
company them to the place of meeting 
appointed by Captain .Jones. But her 
guides unhappily cpiarrelling on the way, 
as to which of tliem should present her 
to Mr. Jones and receive the promised 
recompense, one of them, to terminate 
the dispute, cleft her skull with his 
tomahawk, and laid her dead at his feet. 
This transaction struck the whole Bri- 
tish army with horror. General Bur- 
goyne, on hearing of it, indignantly de- 
manded that the murderer should be 
given up to condign punishment. Pru- 
dential considerations, however, pre- 
vented his being put to death, as he well 
deserved. Burgoyne v.as of opinion, that 
his pardon upon terms would be more 
efficacious in preventing further barbari- 
ties than his execution : he, therefore, 
spared his life, upon condition that his 
counti-} men would, from that time forth, 
abstain from ])erpetrating any cruelties 
on the unarmed inhabitants, or on those 
whom tliey had vanquished in battle. 
As the Earl of Harrington at a subse- 
quent period stated in his examination 
before the House of Commons, he told 
their interpreter " that lie would lose 
every Indian rather than connive at their 
enormities." Tiie savages at first seemed 
willing to comply witli liis renewed in- 
junctions; but resentment rankled in 
tlieir hreasts at his interference with 
their habits of wai-fare, the respect with 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



39 



which they had once looked up to him 
was impaired by their knowledge of the 
difficulties of his situation, and they soon 
began to quit the camp, loaded with their 
accumulated plunder. Thus checked 
in his progress, and deserted by his 
allies, Burgoyne sent urgent letters 
to Sir Henry Clinton, who commanded 
at New York, entreating him to hasten 
forwards the co-operative forces on which 
he relied for safety and success, and 
apprizing him that want of provisions 
would preclude him from remaining in 
his present position beyond the 12th of 
October. This renewed delay dispirited 
his own troops, and swelled the numbers 
of the hostile army, which received re- 
cruits from every quarter. On the 7th 
of October, Burgoyne in person, accom- 
panied by Generals Phillips, Reidesel, 
and Fraser, issued from his camp at 
the head of 1500 men, for the purpose of 
making a reconnoissance and of foraging. 
Tills movement brought on a general 
engagement, at the close of which the 
British were driven within their lines, and 
a part of them was forced. This circum- 
stance compelled Burgoyne to change 
his position, which manoeuvre he per- 
formed in a masterly manner, and with- 
out sustaining any loss. It was, indeed, 
from this time, the policy of the Ameri- 
can general to avoid a pitched battle, 
and to reduce his enemy by harassing 
him and cutting off his retreat, and de- 
priving him of supplies. 

The situation of General Burgoyne 
was most distressing. By extraordinary 
efforts he had forced his way to within 
a few miles of Albany, the point of 
his destination, and had he been se- 
conded by correspondent exertions on 
the part of the British Southern army, 
he would have effected the object of 
his campaign. Sir Henry Clinton 
seems to have had no precise or 
early instructions as to co-operating 
with him. Ceitain it is, that it was 
not till the third of October that he 
moved up the Hudson to his assistance. 
Sir Henry easily surmounted every 
obstacle which ])resented itself on his 
route. He took Fort Montgomery by as- 
sault, and by removing a boom and chain 
which was stretched from that fortress 
across the Hudson, he opened the navi- 
gation of that river to his flotilla, which, 
with a fair wind might have speedily made 
its passage to Half Moon, within sixteen 
miles of Gates's encampment. But 
instead of hastening to therelief of their 
countrymen, the several divisions of 



Clinton's army employed themselves in 
plundering and burning the towns and 
villages situated on the banks of the river, 
and in the adjacent country. Amongst 
those who distinguished themselves in 
this predatory warfare, General Vaughan 
rendered himself pre-eminently conspi- 
cuous. Havins; been ordered to advance 
up the river, by Sir Henry Clinton, he 
landed at the town of^Esopus, and finding 
it evacuated !)y the American forces, to 
whom its defence had been intrusted, 
though he did not encounter the slight- 
est opposition on the part of the inhabi- 
tants, he permitted his troops to plunder 
it, and afterwards so completely reduced 
it to ashes, that he did not leave a single 
house standing. This outrage excited a 
cry of indignation throughout the United 
States, and drew from General Gates a 
letter of severe remonstrance. But the 
British had much more reason to incul- 
pate Vaughan than the Americans. His 
delay at ^sopus sealed the ruin of the 
Royal cause. Vaughan was at ^sopus 
on the 1 3th of October. The tide of 
flood would have borne him, in four 
hours, to Albany, where he might have 
destroyed Gates's stores, and thus have 
reduced the American general to the 
necessity of hberating General Burgoyne, 
who did not surrender till the IGth, and 
of retreating into New England. Upon 
such narrow turns of contingencies does 
the issue of the combinations of warfare 
frequently depend ? 

§ 24. Convention of Saratoga, 
Uth October, 1777. 

In the mean time, the difficulties in 
which Burgoyne was involved were 
hourly accumulating. With a view of 
cutting off his retreat, Gates posted 1400 
men opposite the fords of Saratoga, and 
2000 more on the road from that j)lace 
to Fort Edward. On receiving intelli- 
gence of this, Burgoyne retreated to 
Saratoga, leaving his sick and wounded 
to the humanity of the enem}'. Finding 
it impossible to force his way over tlie 
fords of Saratoga, he attempted to open 
to his army a passage to Lake George ; 
but the artificers whom he sent under 
a strong escort to repair the bridges 
on the road thither were driven away 
by the American forces. The road to 
Fort Edward, also, was found by the 
scouts who had been sent to reconnoitre 
in that diieciion, to be strongly guarded. 
When the 13th day of October arrived, 
Burgoyne had received no satisfactory 



40 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



tidings from Clinton's army. He saw 
himself in a manner surrounded by the 
enemy, whose cannon-shot flew in every 
direction through his camp. Though 
he had for some lime past put his troops 
on sliort allowance, he found on inspec- 
tion that he had only thi-ee days' rations 
left in his stores. In these trying cir- 
cumstances, with heavy heart he sum- 
moned a council of war, which came to 
a unanimous resolution, that in their 
present position they would be justified 
in accepting a capitulation on honour- 
able terms. A neaociation was ac- 
cordingly opened. The first proposal of 
Gates, namely, that the royal forces 
should ground their arms in their lines, 
and surrender prisoners at discretion, 
was indignantly rejected. After further 
discussion, a convention was at length 
agreed upon, the principal conditions of 
which were, " that the British troops 
were to march out of their camp with the 
honours of war and the artillery of the 
entrenchments to the verge of the river, 
where the arms and the artillery were 
to be left ; the arms to be piled by word 
of command from their own officers; 
and that a free passage was to be granted 
to the army to Great Britain, upon 
condition of not serving again in North 
America during the jn-esent contest." 
Though the first proposals of General 
Gales were harsh, his subsequent con- 
duct was marked with the character- 
istics of conciliation and delicacy. 
When the convention was signed, he 
withdrew his troops into their lines, to 
spare the British the pain of piling their 
arms in the presence of a triumphant 
enemy. He received the vanquished 
general with the respect due to his 
valour and to his military skill; and in 
an entertainment which he gave at his 
qiiarters to theprincii)al British officers, 
his urbanity and kindness soothed the 
mortification which could not but em- 
bitter their spirits. 

By the convention of Saratoga, 5790 
men surrendered as prisoners ; and 
besides the muskets piled by these 
captives, tiiirty-iive brass field-pieces, 
and a- variety of stores were given up 
to the victors. 



iJ 25. Treaty with France, 6th February, 
1778. 

Immediately after the surrender of 
Bur^oyne, Gates moved down the 
Hudson to put a stop to the devastation 
of the country by Chnlon's army, which. 



on his approach, retired to New York. 
He then sent forward a considerable 
reinforcement lo General Washington, 
who soon after its arrival advanced to 
White Marsh, within fourteen miles of 
Philadelphia, where he encamped in a 
stronsr position. When General Howe 
received intelligence of this movement, 
he marched out of his quarters on the 
night of the 4th of December; but after 
various manoeuvres, finding that he 
could gain no advantage over his vigi- 
lant adversary, he returned to Phila- 
delphia. Washington then took up 
his winter-quarters about sixteen miles 
from the city, at a place called Valley 
Forge, where his men, ill-suiiplied as 
they were with clothins:, blankets, and 
other comforts, cheerfully constructed 
huts to shelter themselves from the in- 
clemency of the season. By taking up 
this position he protected the province 
of Pennsylvania from the incursions of 
the enemy, and reduced the fruits of 
Howe's various successes to the occu- 
pation of a single additional city — an 
advantage by no means calculated to 
console the British for the loss of an 
able general, and a gallant army. 

General Burgoyne had drunk deep of 
the bitter cup of affliction at Saratoga; 
but he was doomed to suffer si ill farther 
mortification. As the British regarded 
the Americans as rebels, they did not 
always in the course of hostilities ob- 
serve towards them those rules which 
guide the conduct of nations engaged in 
w'ar against a foreign enemy. The truth 
of history, indeed, cannot suppress the 
melancholy fact, that at the beginning 
of the contest, and, occasionally, during 
its progress, the treatment of the Ame- 
rican prisoners, on the part of the Bri- 
tish authorities, was extremely harsh 
and severe ; and that capitulations made 
with such portions of the patriotic army, 
as had by the fortune of war been re- 
duced to a surrender, had not always 
been observed with courtesy, or even 
wilh a due and strict re<;ard to their 
essential provisions. Tiie Congress, 
reflecting on these incidents, felt no 
small apprehension that if the army 
which had surrendered at Saratoga 
should be allowed to emb:irk, instead 
of sailing for England, according to the 
terms of the capitulation, it would join 
the forces of General Howe. They 
therefore studied to find a pretext for 
breaking the convention. For tliis 
puipose they addressed a number of 
queries to General Gates, as to the man- 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



41 



ner in which the British had fulfilled 
the conditions of their surrender, but he 
assured them that on the part of the Bri- 
tish the convention had been exactly ob- 
served. The pretext, however, which they 
could not obtain from their gallant coun- 
tryman, was supplied by the imprudence 
of Burgoyne. Among other articles of 
the convention, it had been stipulated 
that the captive British officers should, 
during their stay in America, be accom- 
modated with quarters correspondent to 
their rank. This stipulation having been 
but ill observed in the crowded barracks 
at Cambridge, near Boston, where the 
surrendered army was quartered, Bur- 
goyne addressed to Gates a letter of 
remonstrance on this subject, in which 
he declared that by the treatment which 
his officers had experienced, " the 
public faith plighted at Saratoga, had 
been broken on the part of the United 
States." Gates, in the discharge of his 
duty, transmitted this letter to congress, 
who read it with joy ; and affecting to 
find in the phrase above quoted, a pre- 
text set up by the British general to vin- 
dicate a meditated violation of the con- 
vention, they resolved that " the em- 
barkation of General Burgoyne and the 
troops under his command should be 
suspended till a distinct and explicit 
ratification of the convention of Sara- 
toga should be properly notified Ijy the 
court of Great Britain." In vain did 
Burgoyne remonstrate against this re- 
solution — in vain did he explain his 
phraseology, and offer to give any con- 
ceivable pledge of the sincerity of his 
intentions to fultil his engagements. 
The congress was inexorable — his troops 
remained as prisoners ; and after wasting 
some time in vain endeavours to pro- 
cure them redress, he sailed on his pa- 
role for England, where he was refused 
admittance into the presence of his 
sovereign, denied the justice of a 
court-martial on his conduct, and sub- 
jected to a series of ministerial persecu- 
tions — grievous, indeed, to a sensitive 
mind, but, in effect, more disgraceful to 
their inflictors than to their victim. 

At the lime v;hen the American 
leaders contemplated the declaration of 
independence, they entertained sanguine 
hopes that the rivalry which had so 
long subsisted between France and 
England would induce the former 
power to assist them in throwing off the 
yoke of the mother country ; and early 
in the year 1773, the congress ■ sent 
Silas Deane as their accredited agent to 



Paris, where he was afterwards joined 
by Dr. Franklin and Arthur Lee, and 
instructed to solicit the French court to 
enter into a treaty of alliance and com- 
merce with the United States. The 
celebrity of Franklin gained him the 
respect, and his personal qualities ob- 
tained him the esteem of individuals of 
the highest rank in the French capital. 
But the Corate de Vergennes, then 
prime minister, acted with caution. He 
gave the Americans secret aid. and con- 
nived at various measures which their 
agents took to further their cause, by the 
procuring of arms and military stores, 
and by annoying the British commerce. 
The encouragement which Franklin, 
and his associates received varied ac- 
cording to the success or disasters of 
the American forces. But the capture 
of Burgoyne's army decided the hesi- 
tating councils of France ; and on the 
6th of February, 1778, his Most 
Christian Majesty acknowledged and 
guaranteed the independence of the 
United States, and entered into a treaty 
of alliance and commerce with the in- 
fant republic of North America. Of 
this circumstance the French ambas- 
sador, on the 13th of March, gave official 
notice to his Majesty's ministers in a 
rescript couched in respectful terms, but 
concluding with an intimation, " that 
the French king, being determined effec- 
tually to protect the lawful commerce of 
his subjects, and to maintain the dignity 
of his flag, had, in consequence, taken 
effectual measures for these purposes, 
in concert with the United States of 
America." With whatever urbanity this 
communication might be made by the 
ambassador, the British ministers re- 
garded it, as it was intended to be, as a 
declaration of war ; and on the 1 7th of 
March they notified its reception to the 
House of Commons. Their notification 
was accompanied by a message from 
the king, expressing the necessity he 
was under to resent this unprovoked 
aggression, and his firm reliance on the 
zealous and affectionate support of his 
faithful peoi:)le. To this message the 
Commons returned a dutiful answer, 
assuring his Majesty that they would 
stand by him in asserting the dignity of 
the crown, and the honour of the nation. 

§ 26. Rejection of Lord North's Over- 
tures, June 1778. 

The intelligence of the surrender of 
General Burgoyne and his army over- 



42 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



whelmed Lord North with dismay ; 
and the annunciation of the treafy 
between the United States and France 
at once dissipated the feeble hope which 
he might yet have entertained of sub- 
duing the revolted colonies by force of 
arms. His only remaining resource, 
then, to prevent that jewel from being 
for ever torn from the British crown, 
was to form, by an act of parliament, a 
liind of federal union with the North 
American provinces, which, whilst it 
reserved their allegiance to the British 
sovereign, should virtually concede to 
them the entire management of their 
internal concerns. With this view, on 
the 1 7th of February, 1778, he introduced 
info the House of Commons two con- 
ciliatory bills, by which he proposed to 
concede to the colonies every thing which 
they had demanded before their declara- 
tion of independence, viz., exemption 
from internal parliamentary taxation, 
the appointment of their own governors 
and superior magistrates ; and more- 
over, an exemption from the keeping up 
of any military force in any of the colo- 
nies without the consent of their re- 
spective assemblies. It was provided 
that commissioners should be appointed 
by the crown, to negociate with tiie con- 
gress on the basis of these propositions. 
The speech in which his lordship intro- 
duced these bills into the House of 
Commons was marked by a curious 
mixture of humiliation of tone, and 
affected confidence and courage. The 
coercive acts, which under his influence 
had been passed into laws, were, said 
he, such as appeared to be necessary at 
the time, though in the event they had 
produced effects which he had never 
mtcnded. As soon as he found that 
they had failed in their object, before a 
sword was drawn he brought forward a 
conciliatory proposition (meaning the 
act for admitting to tlie king's peace 
any individual colonies which might 
make the requisite concessions) ; but 
that, in consequence of the proposition 
having been made the subject of debate 
in parliament, it went damned to Ame- 
rica, so that the congress conceived, or 
took occasion to represent it, as a 
scheme for sowing divisions, and intro- 
ducing taxation among tliem in a worse 
mode than the former. Then, making 
a talal admission of the trifling nature 
of the object which had produced so 
much ill Ijlood between the colonies and 
the mother-country, he confessed that his 
idea never had been to draw any con- 



siderable revenue from America; that 
his wish was, that the colonists should 
contribute in a very low proportion to 
the expenses of Great Britain. He was 
very well aware that American taxation 
could never produce a beneficial re- 
venue, and that many taxes could not 
1)6 laid or collected in the colonies. The 
Stamp Act, however, seemed to be 
judiciously chosen as a fiscal experiment, 
as it interested every man who had any 
dealing or property to defend or recover, 
in the collection of the tax and the exe- 
cution of the statute ; but this experi- 
ment had failed in consequence of the 
obstinacy of the Americans in trans- 
acting all business without using the 
stamps prescribed by law. The act 
enabling the East India Company to 
send tea to America on their own ac- 
count, and with the drawback of the 
whole duty in England, was a relief 
instead of an oppression; but this mea- 
sure had been defeated by contraband 
traders, who had too successfully mis- 
represented it as an invasion of colonial 
rights. Having thus detailed the ditfi- 
culties with which ministers had been 
called to struggle in legislating for so 
perverse a generation as the Americans 
had proved themselves to be, his lord- 
ship then proceeded to open his plan, 
the outline of which has been given 
above; and, in descanting on the ample 
powers with which he proposed to 
invest the commissioners, and foreseeing 
that the Americans might refuse to 
treat with these agents of the Sovereign 
without a previous acknowledgment of 
their independence, he humbled himself 
so far as to say that he would not insist 
on their renouncing their independence 
till the treaty should receive its final 
ratification from the King and parlia- 
ment of Great Britain; and then, in a 
manner confessing that, instead of a 
sovereign assembly the parliament was 
reduced to the condition of a supplicant 
to the mutinous colonies, he proposed 
that the commissioners should be in- 
structed to negociate with them for 
some reasonable and moderate contri- 
bution towards the common defence of 
the empire when reunited ; but, to take 
away ail pretence for not terminating 
this unhappy dilference, the contribution 
was not to be insisted on as a sine qua 
nnn of the treaty ; but that if the Ame- 
ricans should refuse so reasonable and 
e([uitable a projiosition, they were not 
to look for support from that part of the 
empire to whose expense they had re- 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



43 



fused to contribute. Weakly attempting 
to obviate the imputation that these 
pacific measures were the fruit of fear, 
occasioned by the recent successes of 
the insur2:ents, he called the House to 
witness that he had declared for conci- 
liation at the besjinnino: of the session, 
when he thought that the victories of 
General Howe had been more decisive, 
and when he knew nothing of the mis- 
fortunes of Burgoyne. He acknow- 
ledged that the events of the war had 
turned out very differently from his 
expectation, but maintained that for the 
disappointment of the hopes of the pub- 
lic no blame was imputable to himself; 
that he had promised that a great army 
should be sent out, and a great army, 
an army of upwards of 60,000 men, 
had been sent out ; that he had pro- 
mised that a great fleet should be em- 
ployed, and a great fleet had been 
employed ; that he had engaged that 
this army and this fleet should be pro- 
vided with every kind of supply, and 
that they had been supplied most amply 
and liberally, and might be so for years 
to come; and that if the House was 
deceived, they had deceived themselves. 
The prime minister, having thus by 
implication attributed the failure of his 
plans to the commanders of the British 
forces employed to conduct the war, 
concluded his speech by a boastful 
assertion, that the strength of the na- 
tion was still entire ; that its resources 
were ample, and that it was able, if it 
were necessary, to carry on the war 
much longer. The disavowal on the 
part of Lord North of any intention to 
raise a revenue in America, seems to 
have given no little umbrage to the 
country gentlemen, whose organ, Mr. 
Baldwin, exclaimed, that he had been 
deceived by the minister; that three 
years ago he had asked him whether a 
revenue was meant by the measures 
which he then proposed to enforce ; that 
he was answered it was, and that upon 
that ground alone he had hitherto voted 
with the ministry. The regular opposi- 
tion were, upon the whole, more mode- 
rate than the landed aristocracy. Mr. 
Fox approved of Lord North's proposi- 
tions, which, he reminded him, were in 
substance the same as those which were 
in vain brought forward by Mr. Burke 
about three years before. He did not, 
however, restrain himself from making 
some severe animadversions on the 
policy of the Premier, all whose argu- 
ments, he asserted, might be collected 



into one point, his excuses all reduced 
to one apology — his total ignorance. 
" He hoped," exclaimed the indignant 
orator, " he hoped, and was disap- 
pointed ; he expected a great deal, and 
found little to answer his expectations. 
He thousfht the Americans would have 
submitted to his laws, and they resisted 
them. He thought they would have 
submitted to his armies, and they were 
beaten by inferior numbers. He made 
conciliatory propositions, and he thought 
they would succeed, but they were re- 
jected. He appointed commissioners to 
make peace, and he thought they had 
powers ; but he found they could not 
make peace, and nobody believed they 
had any powers. He had said many 
such things as he had thought fit in his 
conciliatory propositions ; he thought it 
a proper method of quieting the Ameri- 
cans upon the affair of taxation. If any 
person should give himself the trouble 
of reading that proposition, he would 
find not one word of it correspondent to 
the representation made of it by its 
framer. The short account of it was, that 
the noble lord in the proposition assured 
the colonies, that when Parliament had 
taxed them as much as they thouglit 
proper, they would tax them no more." 
In conclusion, however, Mr. Fox said 
*' that he would vote for the present 
proposition, because it was much more 
clear and satisfactory, for necessity had 
caused him to speak plain." The conci- 
liatory bills, in their passage through 
the two Houses, excited many ani- 
mated debates, in the course of which 
Lord North was exposed to much 
animadversion, which he seems to 
have borne with great equanimity. At 
length, all points relative to them being 
settled by Parliament, they were sanc- 
tioned by the Royal assent. But the 
urgency of danger would not allow mi- 
nisters to wait till they were passed into 
a law ; and the same statesmen who had 
a little time before treated the petitions 
of the colonies with scorn and contempt, 
hastened to communicate their proposi- 
tions, whilst yet in the shape of bills, to 
the congress, in hopes that the adoption 
on their part of a milder policy might 
be met with a similar spuit of concilia- 
tion on the otiier side of the Atlantic. 
These documents were despatched in such 
haste, that they arrived at New York 
in time to be presented by Sir Wil- 
liam Howe to the congress, before that 
assembly had received mtelligence of the 
signature of their treaty of alliance with 



44 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



France. The American legislators did 
not, however, hesitate as to the line of 
conduct which in tliese circumstances 
it became them to pursue. They per- 
emptorily rejected the proposals of Lord 
North as insidious and unsatisfactory. 
Durino;the progress of the conciliatory 
bills, and after their passing, frequent 
and anmiated debates took place in both 
houses of parliament, relative to the 
foreign and domestic policy of the coun- 
try. In 1he House of Lords, the Duke 
of Richmond took the lead in discussing 
these sul)jects, and on the 7th of April 
he made an iminessive speech on the 
state of the nation, in which he main- 
tained, that the salvation of the country 
required the withdrawing of the British 
troops from North America, and even 
not obscurely hinted that, for the acqui- 
sition of peace, it would be politic to 
agree to the independence of the colonies. 
As his grace's sentiments on the latter 
point were no secret, and as it was to be 
expected that he would propound them 
on this occasion, Lord Chatham, now 
labouring under the weight of seventy 
years, rendered more heavy by acute 
bodily sutiering, regardless of his infir- 
mities, attended in his place for the pur- 
pose of raising his voice against the 
duke's proposition. "My Lords," ex-* 
claimed the venerable orator, " I rejoice 
that the grave has not closed upon me, 
and that I am still alive to lift up my 
voice against the dismemberment of this 
ancient and most noble monarchy." He 
then proceeded, in the most energetic 
terms, to urge his auditors to the most 
vigorous efforts against their new enemy, 
the house of Bourbon ; and concluded 
by calling upon them, if they must fall, 
to fall like men. The Duke of Rich- 
mond having replied to this speech, 
Lord Chatham attempted to rise for the 
purpose of rebutting his grace's argu- 
ments, and of proposing his own plan 
for putting an end to the contest with 
America, which is imderstood to have 
been the establishment with the colonies, 
upon the most liberal terms, of a kind 
of federal union under one common 
monarch. But the powers of nature 
within him were exhausted : he fainted 
under the effort which he made to give 
utterance to his sentiments, and being 
conveyed to his favourite seat of Hayes, 
in Kent, he expired on the 11th of ]\Lay. 
This firmness on the part of congress 
augured ill for the success of the British 
commissioners, Lord Carlisle, Mr. Eden, 
and Governor Johnstone, who arrived 



at New York on the 9th of June, and 
without loss of time attempted to open 
a negociation with the congress. Their 
overtures were officially answered by 
President Laurens in a letter, by which 
he apprized them that the American 
government were determined to main- 
tain their independence ; but were will- 
ing to treat for peace with his Britannic 
Majesty on condition of his withdrawing 
his fleets and armies from their country. 
Thus foiled in their attempt at public 
negociation, the commissioners had re- 
course to private intrigue. Governor 
Johnstone, from his long residence in 
America, was personally acquainted 
with many of the leading members of 
congress, to some of whom he addressed 
letters, vaguely intimating the great 
rewards and honours which awaited 
those who would lend their aid in put- 
ting an end to the present troubles ; 
and in one instance, he privately offered 
to an individual, for his services on this 
behalf, the sum of 10,000/. sterlino-, and 
any place in the colonies in his majesty's 
gift. These clandestine overtures of 
the governor were uniformly rejected 
with contempt, and the congress having 
been apprized of them, declai-ed them 
direct attempts at corruption ; and re- 
solved that it was incompatible with 
their honour to hold any correspondence 
or intercourse with him. This reso- 
lution, which was adhered to, notwith- 
standing the explanations and denials of 
Johnstone, and the disavowal of his pro- 
ceedings by his brother commission- 
ers, drew forth from these pacificators 
an angry manifesto, in which they vir- 
tually threatened the L^nion with a war 
of devastation, declaring that " if the 
British colonies were to become an ac- 
cession to France, the laws of self-pre- 
servation would direct Great Britain to 
render the accession of as little avail as 
possible to the enemy." Whilst con- 
gress gave notice that the bearers of 
the co])ies of this manifesto were not 
entitled to the })rotection of a flag, they 
shewed how little they dreaded the im- 
pression which it miglit make, by giving 
it an extensive circulation in their news- 
papers. 

§ 27. Arrival of the French Fleet. 

General Howe spent the spring of the 
year 17 78 nearly in a state of inaction, 
confining his operations to the sending 
out of foraging and predatory parties, 
which did some mischief to the country, 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



but little service to the royal cause. 
Prom tliis letliarsry he was roused by 
the receipt of orders from the British 
ministry, to evacuate Philadelphia with- 
out delay. These orders were sent 
under the apprehension, that if a French 
fleet should block up his squadron in 
the Delaware, whilst Washins^ton in- 
closed him on the land side, he would 
share the fate of Burgoyne. On the 
18th of June, therefore, he quitted the 
Pennsylvanian capital, and crossed into 
New Jersey, whither he was speedily 
followed by Washington, who, keeping 
a strict watch on his movements, had 
taken measures to harass him on his 
march, which was encumbered with 
baggage. The American commander, 
on his arrival at Princeton, hearing 
that General Clinton, with a large divi- 
sion of the Brtiish forces, had quitted 
the direct road to Staten Island, the 
pla-ce of rendezvous appointed for Gene- 
ral Howe's army, and was marching for 
Sandy Hook, sent a detachment in pur- 
suit of him, and followed with his whole 
army to support it; and as Clinton 
made preparations to meet the meditated 
attack, he sent forward reinforcements 
to keep the British in check. These 
reinforcements were commanded by 
General Lee, whom Washington, on his 
advancing in person, met in full retreat. 
After a short and angry parley, Lee 
again advanced, and was driven back ; 
but Clinton's forces next encountering 
the main body of the American army, 
were repulsed in their turn, and taking 
advantage of the night, the approach of 
which in all probability saved them from 
utter discomfiture, they withdrew to 
Sandy Hook, leaving behind them such 
of their wounded as could not with 
safety be removed. For his conduct on 
this occasion, Lee was brought to a 
court-martial, and sentenced to be sus- 
pended from any command in the 
armies of the United States for the 
term of one year. After this engage- 
ment Washington marched to White 
Plains, which are situated a few miles 
to the north-eastward of New York 
Island. Here he continued unmolested 
by the neighbouring enemy, from the 
beginning of July, till the latter end of 
autumn, when he retired to take up his 
winter quarters in huts which he had 
caused to be constructed at Middlebrook 
in Jersey. 

According to the prognostic of the 
British ministry, the Count d'Estaing, 
with a fleet of twelve ships of the line and 



three frigates, arrived off the mouth of 
the Delaware in the month of July ;, but 
found to his mortification, that eleven 
days before that period Lord Howe had 
withdrawn from that river to the har- 
bour of New York. D'Estaing imme- 
diately sailed for Sandy Hook ; but aftef 
continuing at anchor there eleven days, 
during which time he captured about 
twenty English merchantmen, finding 
that he could not work his line-of battle 
ships over the bar, by the advice of 
General Washington he sailed for New- 
port, with a view of co-operating with 
the Americans in driving the British 
from Rhode Island, of which province 
they had been in possession for upwards 
of a year and a half. This project, how- 
ever, completely failed. Lord Howe ap- 
pearing with his fleet off Newport, the 
French admiral came out of the harbour 
to give him battle ; but, before the hostile 
armaments could encounter, a violent 
storm arose, which damaged both fleets 
so much, that the British were compelled 
to return to New York, whilst D'Estaing 
withdrew to refit in Boston harbour. 
His retirement subjected the American 
army, which had entered Rhode Island 
under General Sullivan, to great peril ; 
but by the skill of its commander, it was 
withdrawn from the province with little 
loss. Towards the latter end of this 
year the British arms were signally suc- 
cessful in Georgia, the capital of which 
province was taken by Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel Campbell, who conducted himself 
with such prudence, and manifested so 
conciliatory a spirit, that he made no 
small advances in reconciling the Geor- 
gians to their ancient government. 

The arrival of the French fleet had 
filled the Americans with sanguine ex- 
pectations that they should now be able 
to put an end to the war by some de- 
cisive stroke ; and in proportion to the 
elevation of their hopes was the bitter- 
ness of then- mortification, that tlie only 
result of the co-operation of their ally 
was the recovery of Philadelphia. On 
the other hand, the British ministry 
were grievously disappointed on learning 
that the issue of thus campaign, as far 
as regarded their main army, was the 
exchange by General Howe of his nar- 
row quarters in the Pennsylvanian capi- 
tal for the not much more extended ones 
of New York island. Hitherto they 
seem to have carried on the war under 
the idea that the majority of the inhabi- 
tants of the colonies were favourably 
disposed towards the royal government, 



46 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



anil were only restrained from manifest- 
ing their loyalty by a faction whom it 
would be easy with their assistance to 
subdue, but from this period they ap- 
pear to liave conducted their hostilities 
in a spirit of desperation and revenge, 

^S 28. Campaign of 1779. 

With a viev/ of alarming the insurgent 
colonies by subjecting them to the un- 
mitigated horrors of war. Sir Henry 
Clinton, on the lUth of May, 1779, sent 
an expedition into Virginia ; under the 
command of Sir George CoUyer and 
General Matthews, who, landing at 
Portsmo\ith, proceeded to Suffolk, which 
town they reduced to ashes, and after 
burning and capturing upwards of 130 
vessels of different sizes, and devastating 
the covuitry in their line of march, sailed 
back loaded with booty to New York. 
About five weeks after their return, Go- 
vernor Tryon, having received orders to 
attack the coast of Connecticut, landed 
at East Haven, which he devoted to the 
flames, in violation of his promise of 
protection to all the inhabitants who 
should remain in their homes. Thence 
he proceeded to Fairiield and Norwalk, 
whicii were given up to plunder, and 
then destroyed. He elfected this mis- 
chief with little loss in the space of ten 
days, at the end of whicli lime he re- 
turned to the British head-quarters to 
make a report of his proceedmgs to the 
commander-in-chief. Whilst this mode 
of warfare was carrying on, Washington 
coidd spare very few men for the defence 
of the invaded districts. His attention was 
engrossed by the main army of the Bri- 
tish, to keep which in check he posted 
his forces at West Point, and on the 
opposite back of the Hudson, pushing 
his patrols to the vicinity of his adver- 
sary's line>s. As the British occupied 
with a strong garrison Stoney Point, 
some miles to the south of his position, 
he, on the liith of July, despatched 
General Wayne with a comfjetent force 
'to dislodge them from that important 
post. Tliis attempt was crowned with 
success. Wayne took the Briti.'^h works 
by storm, and ln"ou>ilit oit' ;3lo prisoners, 
fitteeu pieces of cannon, and a consider- 
able quantity of mililary stores. Wash- 
ingtmi did not, however, think it pru- 
dent for the present to attempt to esta- 
bhsh himself at Stoney Point, and it was 
speedily re-occupied by the British. 
Another instance of the enterprising 
bvidneiis uf the Americans soon alter 



occurred in the surprise of the British 
garrison at Povvles-Hook, opposite to 
New York, which was attacked on the 
1 9th of July, by Major Lee, who stormed 
the works and took 160 prisoners, whom 
he brought safely to the American lines. 
The joy which the Americans felt at the 
success of these daring enterprises was, 
however, damjjcd by the failure of an 
expedition undertaken by the state of 
Massachusetts to dispossess the British 
of a fort which they had erected at Pe- 
nobscot in the district of Maine. They 
here lost the whole of their flotilla, which 
was destroyed or captured by Sir George 
Collyer, wtiilst their land forces v.- ere 
compelled to seek for safety by retreat- 
ing through the woods. 

Spain having now declared war 
against Great Britain, it was hoped by 
sanguine politicians, favourable to the 
cause of the new republic, that this addi- 
tional pressure of foreign foes would 
compel the British ministry to withdraw 
their forces from North America. But 
the energies of the mother country were 
roused in proportion to the increase of 
her peril. Her fleets maintained their 
wonted sovereignty over the ocean, and 
her monarch was determined to strain 
every nerve to reduce his revolted colo- 
nies to obedience ; and at this period 
the e^ise with which the reduction of 
Georgia had been effected, and the 
advantages which it might afford in 
making an attack upon the rest of the 
southern states, induced his ministers to 
renew their etlbrts in that quarter. 
Tlie back settlements, as well as those 
of the Carolinas, abounded with enter- 
prising men of desperate fortunes, as also 
with tories, who had been compelled, 
by the persecution which tliey sustained 
from the more ardent republicans, to 
withdraw into these wilds from the more 
settled part of the country. These 
adventurers and loyalists having joined 
the royal forces under the command of 
Major-general Prescot, which had also 
receivec[ reinforcements from Florida, 
that officer found himself in a condition 
to commence active operations. His 
preparations filled the neighbouring 
states with alarm. Tlie American re- 
gular troops had, with few exceptions, 
been sent from the Carolinas to rein- 
force the army of General Washington; 
and the only reliance of the republicans 
in this portion of the Union rested on the 
militia, the command of which was 
delegated by congress to General Lin- 
coln. On inspecting his forces, Lincoln 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



47 



found 'them ill equipped and very defi- 
cient in discipline. In these circum- 
stances the activity of the enemy did not 
allow him any time to train them. Soon 
after his arrival at head-quarters, a 
division of the royal army advanced 
under the command of Major Gardiner 
to take possession of Port Royal, in 
South Carolina, bvit was driven back 
with loss by General Moultrie. This 
repulse for a while suspended the enter- 
prise of the British, who took post at 
Augusta and Ebenezer, situated on the 
Savannah River, which forms the 
boundary between Georgia and South 
Carolina, Here they waited in expec- 
tation of being joined by a body of 
tories, who had been collected in the 
upper parts of the latter province. But 
these obnoxious allies, giving way to 
long-smothered resentment, were guilty 
of such atrocities on their march, that 
the country rose upon them, and they 
fell an easy prey to a detachment com- 
manded by Colonel Picken, sent to 
intercept them at Kettle Creek. Five 
of the prisoners taken on this occasion 
were tried and executed for bearing 
arms against the government of the 
United States. This proceeding led to 
acts of retaliation on the part of the 
tories and the king's troops, which for 
a long time gave in the southern states 
additional horror to the miseries of war. 
Emboldened by his success, Lincoln 
sent an expedition into Georgia, with a 
view of repressing the incursions of the 
enemy, but his forces were surprised by 
General Prevost, from whom they sus- 
tained so signal a defeat, that, of 1500 
men, of which the expedition consisted, 
only '150 returned to Ins camp. In this 
emergency, the legislative body of South 
Carolina invested their governor', Mr. 
John Rutledge, and his council, with an 
almost absolute authority, by virtue of 
which a considerable force of militia 
was embodied and stationed in the 
centre of the state, to act as necessity 
might require. Putting himself at the 
head of these new levies, Lincoln again 
determined to carry the war into the 
enemy's quarters ; and, crossing the 
Savannah near Augusta, marched into 
Georgia, and proceeded towards the 
capital of that province. Prevost in- 
stantly took advantage of this move- 
ment to invade South Carohna, at the 
head of 2400 men; and, driving Moul- 
trie before him, pushed forwaid towards 
Charleston. At tins time his supe- 



riority appeared to be so decisive, that 
MouUrie's troops began to desert in 
great numbers, and many of the inha- 
bitants, with real or affected zeal, 
embraced the royal cause. On his 
appearance before Charleston, the 
garrison of that place, which consisted 
of 3300 men, sent commissioners to 
propose a neutrality on their part during 
the remainder of the war. This pro- 
posal he rejected, and made preparations 
to attack the town, which was respect- 
ably fortified. But, whilst he was 
wasting time in negociations, Lincoln 
was hastening from Georgia to the relief 
of the place ; and on the near approach 
of the American army, fearing to be 
exposed to two fires, he withdrew his 
forces across Ashley River, and en- 
camped on some small islands bordering 
on the sea-coast. Here he was attacked 
by Lincoln, who was, however, repulsed 
with loss, in consequence of the failure 
of a part of his combinations. Not- 
withstanding this success, the British 
general did not think it advisable to 
maintain his present position, but re- 
treated to Port Royal, and thence to 
Savannah. 

The Americans retired to Sheldon, 
in the vicinity of Beaufort, which is 
situated at about an equal distance from 
Charleston and Savannah. Keretliey 
remained in a state of tranquillity till the 
beginning of September, when they were 
roused from their inaction by the ap- 
pearance off' the coast of the fleet of 
D'Eslaing, who had proceeded towards 
tile close of the preceding year from 
Boston to the West Indies, whence, 
after capturing St. Vincent's and Gra- 
nada, he had returned to the assistance 
of the allies of his sovereign. At the 
sight of this armament, which consisted 
of 20 sail of the line, and 13 frigates, 
the repulilicans exulted in the sanguine 
hope of capturing their enemies, or of 
expelling them from their country. The 
militia mustered with alacrity in con- 
siderable force, and marched under the 
command of General Lincoln to the 
vicinity of Savannah. Before their 
arrival, D'Estaing had summoned the 
town, and had granted to General Pre- 
vost a suspension of hostilities for 
24 hours, for the purpose of settling 
the terms of a capitulation. But during 
that interval the British commander 
received a reinforcement of several 
hundred men, who had forced their 
way from Beaufort ; encouraged by 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



48 

which seasonable aid, he determined to 
hold out to the last extremity. The 
allied forces, therefore, commenced tlie 
siei^e of the place in form ; but D'Es- 
taing, finding that much time would be 
consumed in regular approaches, and 
dreading the hurricanes which prevail 
on the southern coast of America at 
that season, resolved on an assault. In 
conjunction with Lincoln, he led his 
troops to the attack with great gal- 
lantry ; but the steadiness of the British 
won the day ; and, after having received 
two slight wounds, he was driven back 
with the loss of G37 of his countrymen, 
and 200 of the Americans killed and 
wounded. At the close of the engage- 
ment D'Estaing retired to his ships, and 
departed from the coast, whilst Lincoln 
crossed the Savannah River, and re- 
turned, with his forces daily diminishing 
by desertion, to South Carolina. In 
proportion to the joy of the inhabitants 
of the southern states at the arrival of 
the French fleet, was their mortification 
at the failure of their joint endeavours 
to rid their provinces of an active 
enemy. The brave were dispirited by 
defeat, and the sanguine began to de- 
spair of the fortunes of their country. 
Those, however, who thought more 
deeply, took comfort from the consi- 
deration that the enemy had effected 
little in the course of the campaign, 
except the overrunning and plundering 
of an extensive tract of territory, and 
that they had been compelled to ter- 
minate their excursions l)y again con- 
centrating themselves in Savannah. 

§ 29. Siege and Capitulation of 
Charleston, \2th May, 1780. 

The events which had occurred in 
South Carolina having persuaded Sir 
Henry Clinton that tlie cause of inde- 
pendence was less firmly sujjported there 
than in the northern states, he deter- 
mined to make that i)rovince the prin- 
cipal theatre of the war during the 
ensuing campaign. Leavinsr, therefore, 
the command of the royal army in New 
York to General Knyphausen, on the 
2Gth of December, 1779, he sailed from 
that city with a considerable force, and, 
after a stormy passage, on the Uth of 
the ensuing month he arrived at Tybee, 
in Georizia, at the inoulh of Savannah 
River. Hence he proceeded to Ashley 
River, andencanii)ed ojtposite to Charles- 
ton. On his arrival, the assembly of 



the state of South Carolina broke up its 
sitting, after having once more delegated 
a dictatorial authority to Governor Rut- 
ledge, who immediately issued his orders 
for the asseml)ling of the militia. These 
commands were ill obeyed. The dis- 
asters of the last campaign had almost 
extinguished the flame of patriotism ; 
and each man seemed to look to his 
neighbours for those exertions which 
might have justly been expected from 
himself. On reconnoitring the works of 
Charleston, however. Sir Henry Clin- 
ton did not think it expedient to attack 
tliem till he had received reinforcements 
from New York and Savannah, on the 
arrival of which he opened the siege in 
form. Charleston is situated on a 
tongue of land, bounded on the west by 
Ashley, and on the east by Cooper's, 
Rivers. The approach to Ashley River 
was defended by Fort Moultrie, erected 
on Sullivan's Island; and the passage 
up Coopers River was impeded by a 
number of vessels, connected by cables 
and chains, and sunk in the channel 
opi)osite to the town. On the land side 
the place was defended by a citadel and 
strong lines, extending from one of 
the above-mentioned rivers to the other. 
Before these lines Clinton broke ground 
on the 29th of March, and on the loth 
of April he had completed his first pa- 
rallel. On the preceding day, Admiral 
Arbuthnot, who commanded the l^ritish 
fleet, had passed Fort Moultrie with httle 
loss, and had anchored near the town. 
About the 20th of April the British 
commander received a second reinforce- 
ment of 3000 men ; and the jjlace was 
soon completely invested by land and 
sea — his third parallel being advanced 
to the very edge of the American works. 
General Lincoln, who commanded in 
Charleston, would not have shut him- 
self up in the town, had he not con- 
fidfutly exi)ected relief from the militia, 
who had been called out by Governor 
Rulledge, and by whose assistance he 
imagined that he could, if reduced 
to extremity, have effected a retreat 
by crossing Cooper's River. But the 
few who, ill this hour of difficulty, ad- 
vanced to his aid, were cut off or kept 
in clieck ; and the river was possessed 
by the enemy. In these distressful 
circumstances, after sustaining a bom- 
bardment which set the town on fire in 
different places, on the 12th of May he 
surrt ndered on a capitulaticn, the prin- 
cipal terms of which were, that " the 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



49 



militia were to be permitted to return to 
their respective homes, as prisoners on 
parole, and while they adhered to their 
parole were not to be molested in person 
or property." The same conditions were 
also imposed on all the inhabitants of 
the town, civil as well as military. 

Sir Henry Clinton now addressed him- 
self to the important work of re-establish- 
ing the royal authority in the province ; 
as a preliminary step to which, on the 
1st of June, he issued a proclamation, 
offering to the inhabitants at large, on 
condition of their submission, pardon for 
their past offences, a reinstatement in 
their rights, and, what was of the most 
weighty importance, exemption from tax- 
ation, except from their own legislature. 
This proclamation was followed up by 
the posting of garrisons in different parts 
of the country, to protect the loyal and 
to awe the disaffected, and by the march 
of 2000 men towards North Carolina, 
on whose advance tlie American forces, 
who had tardily marched from that pro- 
vince to the relief of Charleston, re- 
treated with loss. Thus crowned with 
success, Clinton, early in June, em- 
barked, with the principal part of his 
forces, for New York, having delegated 
the completion of the subjugation of 
South Carolina to Lord Cornwallis, to 
whom he apportioned, for that purpose, 
an army of 4000 men. 

§ 30. Defeat of Gates s Army, by Lord 

Cornwallis, 15th August, 1780. 
When Lord Cornwallis took the com- 
mand in South Carolina, the insurgents 
had no army in the field within 400 
miles of that pi-ovince, and the great 
body of the inhabitants had submitted 
either as prisoners or as subjects ; and 
had they been suffered to remain in this 
state of quiet neutrality, they would have 
been happy to al)ide in peace the issue 
of the contest in the northern states. 
But his Lordship's instructions did not 
permit him to be contented with this 
passive obedience, and he proceeded to 
take measures to compel the South 
Carolinians to take up arms against 
their countrymen. With this view, he 
issued a proclamation, absolving from 
their parole all the inhabitants who had 
bound themselves by that obligation, 
and restoring them " to all the rights 
and duties belonging to citizens." What 
was meant by the ominous word " duties" 
was explained by another part of the 
proclamation, whereby it was declared 
" that it was proper lor all persons to 



take an active part in settling and secur- 
ing his majesty's government," and that 
" whoever should neglect so to do should 
be treated as rebels." The Carolinians 
were indignant at this violation of the 
terms of their submission. Many of 
them resumed their arms ; and though 
more, under the impression of fear, en- 
rolled themselves as subjects, they 
brought to the royal cause a hollow 
allegiance which could not be trusted in 
the day of trial. A considerable num- 
ber quitted the province, and hastened 
to join the army which congress was 
raising for the purpose of wresting it 
out of the hands of the enemy. 

In organizing this force, congress had 
to struggle with the greatest difficulties. 
Their treasury was exhausted, and they 
were at this time occupied in making an 
equitable adjustment as to their paper 
money, on the strength of which they 
had undertaken the war, and which was 
now depreciated to the amount of forty 
for one — that is, one silver dollar was 
worth forty American paper dollars. 
Whilst their currency was in this state 
they were perpetually embarrassed in 
their purchases of arms, clothing, and 
stores ; and when they had raised the 
men for the southern army, some time 
elapsed before they could procure the 
necessary funds to put them in motion. 
These difficulties being at length over- 
come, the Maryland and Delaware 
troops were sent forward, and began 
their march in high spirits on learning 
that the expedition, of which they formed 
a part, was to be commanded by General 
Gates. The hero of Saratoga, on joining 
the army in North Carolina, was advised 
to proceed to the southward by a cir- 
cuitous route, where he would find 
plenty of provisions ; but, conceiving it 
to be his duty to hasten with all speed 
to the scene of action, he preferred the 
straightforward road to Camden, which 
led through a desert pine barren. In 
traversing this dreary tract of country, 
his forces were worn out with fatigue 
and extenuated with hunger. The few 
cattle which his commissariat had pro- 
vided having been consumed, his only 
resource for meat was the lean beasts 
which were accidentally picked up in 
the woods. Meal and grain were also 
very scarce ; and as substitutes for 
bread, the soldiers were obliged to have 
recourse to the green corn and to the 
fruits which they met with on their line 
of march. The consequence of this 
unwonted diet was, that the army was 



so 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



fhmned by dysentery and other diseases 
usually caused by the heat of the wea- 
ther and by unwholesome food. The 
soldiers at first bore these hardships 
with impatience, and symptoms of dis- 
satisfaction and even of mutiny began 
to appear amongst them. But by the 
conciliatory exertions of the officers, who 
shared in all the privations of the com- 
mon men, the spirit of murmuring was 
repressed, and the troops pursued their 
weary way with patience and even with 
cheerfulness. On their arrival at a place 
called Deep Creek, their distresses were 
alleviated by a supply of good beef ac- 
companied by the distribution of half a 
pound of Indian corn meal to each man. 
Invigorated by this welcome refresh- 
ment, they proceeded to the cross-roads, 
where they were joined by a respectable 
body of militia under the command of 
General Caswell, Though Gates was 
aware that another body of militia were 
hastening to his assistance from the 
state of Virginia, he was prevented from 
waiting for their arrival by want of pro- 
visions, and, after staying for one day 
only at the cross-roads, finding that the 
enemy intended to dispute his passage by 
Lynch's Creek, he marched to the right 
towards Clermont, where the British had 
established a defensible post. On his ap- 

J)roach to the latter place, however, Lord 
lawdon, who commanded the advance 
of the British, concentrated all his forces 
at Camden, whilst Gates mustered the 
whole of his army at Clermont, which is 
distant from Camden about thirteen 
miles. These events occurred on the 
13th of August, and on the next day the 
American troops were reinforced by a 
body of 700 of the Virginia militia. At 
the same time Gates received an express 
from Colonel Sumpter, who reported to 
him that he had been joined by a num- 
ber of the South Carolina militia, at his 
encampment on the west side of the 
Wateree, and that an escort of clothing, 
ammunition, and other stores, was on its 
way from Charleston to Camden, and 
must of necessity, on its way to its des- 
tination, cross the Wateree at a ferry 
about a mile from that place. On re- 
ceiving this intelligence. Gates sent for- 
ward a detachment of the Maryland line, 
consisting of 100 regular infantry and a 
company of artillery, with two brass 
field-pieces, and 300 North Carolina 
militia, all under the command of Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Woodford, who was in- 
structed to join General Sumpter, and 
assist him m interceptmg the convoy. 



At the same jtime General Gates made 
preparations for advancing still nearer 
Camden, in the expectation that if Lord 
Rawdon did not abandon that post as he 
had done that of Clermont, his supplies 
would be cut off by the bodies of militia 
which were expected to pour forth from 
the upper counties, and he would thus 
be compelled to a surrender. On reach- 
ing the frontier of South Carolina, Gates 
had issued a proclamation, inviting the 
inhabitants to join his standard, and of- 
fering an amnesty to such of them as, 
under the pressure of circumstances, 
had promised allegiance to the British 
Government. Though this proclama- 
tion had not been without effect, it had 
not called forth the numbers upon which 
the American general had been led to 
calculate ; and, after the departure of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Woodford's detach- 
ment, the abstract of the field-i-eturns 
submitted to him by his deputy adjutant- 
general indicated no more than between 
4000 or 5000 men as constituting his 
disposable force. Gates, disappointed 
as he was by the scantiness of these re- 
turns, determined to persevere in his 
plan of offensive operations, and marched 
about ten at night on the 15th of August 
to within half a mile of Sander's Creek, 
about half-way between his encampment 
and Camden. Lord Cornwallis, who 
the day before had repaired to his head- 
quarters at Camden, and had taken the 
command of the British army, was also 
resolved, though his forces amounted 
only to 2000 men, of whom 1700 were 
infantry and 300 cavalry, to attack the 
enemy in their camp, and advancing for 
that purpose, at half-past two in the 
morning, encountered their advanced 
parties near Sander's Creek. Here some 
firing took place with various success ; 
but on the whole the British had the 
advantage in this night rencontre. Early 
on the ensuing morning both armies 
prepared for battle. On tlie side of the 
Americans, the second Maryland bri- 
gade, under the command of General 
Gist, occupied the right, which was 
flanked l)y a morass; the Virginia militia 
and the North Carolina intantiy, also 
covered l)y some boggy ground, were 
posted on the left, whilst General Cas- 
well, with the North Carolina division 
and the artillery, appeared in the centre. 
A corps de reserve, under the orders of 
General SmiUlwood, was posted about 
three hundred yards in the rear of the 
American line. In arranging the Bri- 
tish forces Lord Cornwallis delegated 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



51 



the command of the right to Lieutenant- 
Colonel Webster, who had at his dis- 
posal the 23d and the 33d regiments of 
foot. The left was guarded by some 
Irish volunteers, the infantry of the 
legion, and part of Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hamilton's North Carolina regiment, 
under the command of Lord Rawdon. 
The cavalry of the legion was stationed 
in the rear, where also the 7 1st regiment 
was stationed as a reserve. The re- 
spective armies being thus disposed, the 
action began by the advance of 200 of 
the British in front of the American 
artillery, which received them with a 
steady fire. Gates then commanded the 
Virginia militia to advance under the 
command of Colonel Stevens, who cheer- 
fully obeyed the orders of his com- 
mander-in-chief, and, when he had led 
his men within firing distance, urged 
them to charge the enemy with their 
bayonets. This portion of the Ameri- 
can army did not, however, emulate the 
gallantry of their leader. Lord Corn- 
wallis, observing their movement, gave 
orders to Lieutenant- Colonel Webster 
to attack them. The British infantry 
obeyed his lordship's commands with a 
loud cheer. The American militia, inti- 
midated by this indication of determined 
daring, were panic- struck, and the Vir- 
ginians and the Carolmians threw down 
their arms and hastened from the field. 
The right wing and the corps de reserve, 
however, maintained their position, and 
even gained ground upon the enemy ; 
but Lord Cornwallis, taking advan- 
tage of a favourable moment, charged 
them with his cavalry, and put them 
completely to the rout. The victors 
captured the whole of the baggage 
and artillery of the Americans, who 
were pursued by the British cavalry for 
the space of twenty miles ; and so com- 
plete was their discomfiture, that on the 
second day after the engagement Gates 
could only muster 150 of his fugitive 
soldiers at Charleston, a town in the 
south of North Carolina, from whence 
he retreated still farther north to Salis- 
bury, and thence to Hillsborough. The 
sickliness of the season prevented Lord 
Cornwallis from pursuing the broken 
remains of the enemy's army ; but he 
employed the leisure now afforded him 
in inflicting vengeance on such of the 
inhabitants of South Carolina as had 
been induced, by the presence of Gates's 
army, to declare in his favour. The 
militia-men who had joined the repub- 
lican standard, and had fallen into his 



hands as prisoners, he doomed to the 
gallows. The property of the fugitives, 
and of the declared friends of independ- 
ance, he confiscated. These acts, though 
severe, were perhaps justifiable by the 
strictness of the law. But neither in 
law nor in honour could his lordship 
justify the seizure of a number of the 
principal citizens of Charleston, and 
most of the military officers residing 
there under the faith of the late capitula- 
tion, and sending them to St. Augustin. 

Reduced to desperation by these inju- 
dicious severities, the bold and active 
among the disaffected formed themselves 
into independent bands, under different 
chieftains, amongst whom Marion and 
Sumpter were distinguished by their spirit 
of enterprise. These harassed the scat- 
tered parties of the British, several of 
which they cut off; and by their move- 
ments the loyalists to the north of the 
Carolinas were kept in check. Eight of 
these chieftains having united theirforces, 
attacked Major Ferguson, who had 
been sent to the confines of the two pro- 
vinces to assemble the friends of the 
British government, and killed or 
wounded 250 of his new levies, and 
took 800 prisoners, Ferguson himself 
being amongst the slain. This success 
was followed by important results : 
Lord Cornwallis had marched into 
North Carolina, in the direction of Sa- 
lisbuiy ; but when he heard of the defeat 
and death of Ferguson, he retreated to 
Winnsborough in the southern province, 
being severely harassed in his retrograde 
movement by the militia and the inhabi- 
tants ; and when he retired into winter- 
quarters Sumpter still kept the field. 

In the mean time General Gates had 
collected another army, with which he 
advanced to Charlotte. Here he re- 
ceived intelligence that congress had 
resolved to supersede him and to submit 
his conduct to a court of inquiry. Mor- 
tified as he was by the ingratitude of his 
country, on the notification of this re- 
solve of the supreme power he dutifully 
resigned his command. But on his way 
home from Carohna, his feelings were 
soothed by an address from the legisla- 
ture of Virginia, assuring him that " the 
remembrance of his former glorious ser- 
vices could not be obliterated by any 
reverse of fortune." 

§31. Arrival of the French Auxiliaries 
under Rochambeau, IQth July, 1780. 

Whilst these events were occurring 
in the southern states, General Wash- 
E 2 



52 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



inojton was obliged to confine himself to 
the irksome and inglorious task of 
watching, from his encampment at 
Morristown, tlie motions of the British 
on New York Island, and of restraining 
their incursions into the adjacent coun- 
try. Though the army opposed to him 
was lessened by the detachment which 
Sir Henry Clinton led into South Caro- 
lina, his own forces were proportionably 
weakened by the reinforcements which 
it was necessary for him to send to the 
American army in the same quarter ; 
and never did distress press more heavily 
upon him. The depreciation of the cur- 
rency was at that time so great, that four 
months pay of a private would not pur- 
chase a single bushel of wheat. His 
camp was sometimes destitute of meat, 
and sometimes of bread. As each state 
provided for its own quota of troops, no 
imiformity could be established in the 
distribution of provisions. This circum- 
stance agtrravated the general discontent, 
and a spirit of mutiny began to display 
itself in two of the Connecticut regi- 
ments, which were with difficulty re- 
strained from forcing their way home at 
the point of the bayonet. Of these dis- 
contents the enemy endeavoured to take 
advantage, by circulating in tlie Ame- 
rican camp proclamations offering the 
most tempting gratifications to such of 
the continental troops as should desert 
the repu])lican colours and embrace the 
royal cause. But these offers were un- 
availing ; mutinous as they were, the 
malcontents abhorred the thought of 
joining the enemies of their country; 
and on the seasonable arrival of a fresh 
supply of provisions, they cheerfully re- 
turned to their duty. Soon after this, 
when General Knyphausen, who com- 
manded the British forces in the absence 
of Sir Henry Clinton, made an irruption 
info .Jersey, on the IGth of .Tune, tlie 
whole American army marched out to 
oppose him ; and thousrli he was rein- 
forced by Sir Henry Clinton, who during 
this expedition had arrived from (Charles- 
ton, he was com])elled to measure back 
his steps. Both the advance and retreat 
of the German were marked by the de- 
vastation committed by his troops, who 
burnt the town of Springfiekl and most 
of tlie houses on their line of march. 

Alarmed liy the representations made 
by General Washington, of the destitute 
condition of his army, congress sent 
three members of their body with in- 
structions to inquire into the condition of 
their forces, and with authority to re- 



form abuses. These gentlemen fully 
verified the statements of the com- 
mander-in-chief. No sooner was this 
fact known in the city of Philadelphia, 
than a subscription was set on foot for 
the relief of the suffering soldiers, which 
soon amounted to 300,000 dollars. This 
sum was entrusted to the discretion of 
a well chosen committee, who appro- 
priated it to the ]nirchase of provisions 
for the troops. The three commission- 
ers also applied themselves diligently to 
the task of recruiting and reorganizing 
the army. They prescribed to each 
state the quota of forces which it was to 
contribute towards the raising of 35,000 
men, their deficiency in regulars being 
to be supplied by draughts from their 
respective militia. The states of New 
England, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, 
promptly listened to the call of their 
country, and made extraordinary efforts 
to furnish their several quotas of re- 
cruits. The other members of the union 
exerted themselves to the best of their 
ability; and though the general result 
of these exertions did not produce the 
number of troops which was deemed re- 
quisite for the public service, more could 
not, in such circumstances, have been 
well expected. 

The congress were the more earnest 
in their wishes to put their army on a 
respectable footing, as they were in ex- 
pectation of the arrival of a body of 
auxiliary forces from France. This wel- 
come aid appeared off Rhode Island on 
the 1 0th of July, 1 780, on wliich day Mon- 
sieur Ternay sailed into the harbour of 
Newport with a squadron of seven sail 
of the line, five frigates, and five schoon- 
ers, convoying a fleet of transports 
having on board COOO men, under the 
command of the Count de liochambeau. 
Admiral Arbuthnot, who had under his 
command, at New York, only four sail 
of the line, on hearing of the arrival of 
the French at Rhode Island, was appre- 
hensive of being attacked by their supe- 
rior force. But he was soon relieved 
from his fears by the vigilance of the 
British ministry, who, on the sailing of 
the French fleet from Europe, had sent 
to his assistance Admiral Graves, with 
six ships of the line. On receiving this 
reinforcement, he sailed for Rhode 
Island for the purpose of encountering 
the French squadron, whilst Sir Henry 
Clinton proceeded with 8000 men to 
the north of I>ong Island, for the pur- 
pose of landing on the opposite part of 
the continent, and attacking their land 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



53 



forces. But the British admiral found 
the enemy's ships so well secured by 
balteries and other land fortifications, 
that he was obhged to content himself 
with blocking them up in their harbour ; 
and Clinton, receiving intelligence that 
General Washington was preparing to 
take advantage of his absence by mak- 
ing an attack upon New York, hastened 
back to the relief of that place. 

^ 32. Treason of Arnold, and Death of 
Andre. 

Washington, on the retreat of Gene- 
ral Clinton, withdrew to West Point, 
an almost impregnable position, situated 
about tifty miles to the northward of 
New York, on the Hudson River, by 
means of which he kept up a communi- 
cation between the eastern and southern 
states ; and having occasion, towards 
the end of the month of September, to 
go to Rhode Island to hold a conference 
with the French admiral and Count 
Rochambeau, he left the command of 
this important post to General Arnold, 
unconscious that in so doing he en- 
trusted the fortunes of the infant repub- 
lic to a traitor. Arnold was brave and 
hardy, but dissipated and profligate. 
Extravagant in his expenses, he had 
involved himself in debts, and having 
had, on frequent occasions, the adminis- 
tration of considerable sums of the pub- 
lic money, his accounts were so unsatis- 
factory, tliat he was liable to an im- 
peachment on charges of peculation. 
Much had been forgiven indeed, and 
more would probably have been forgiven, 
to his valour and military skill. But 
alarmed by the terrors of a guilty con- 
science, he determined to get rid of 
pecuniary responsibility by betraying 
his country ; and accordingly entered 
into a negociation with Sir Heni-y Clin- 
ton, in which he engaged, when a pro- 
per opportunity should present itself, to 
make such a disposition of his troops as 
would enable the British to make them- 
selves masters of West Point. The 
details of this negociation were con- 
ducted by Major Andre, the adjutant- 
general of the British army, with whom 
Arnold carried on a clandestine corre- 
spondence, addressing him under tlie 
name of Anderson, whilst he himself 
assumed that of Gustavus. To facilitate 
their communications, the Vulture sloop 
of war was moved near to West Point, 
and the absence of Washingto-n seeming 
to present a tit opportunity for the iinal 



arrangement of their plans, on the night 
of the 21st of September, Arnold sent a 
boat to the Vulture to bring Andre on 
shore. That officer landed in his uni- 
form between the posts of the two armies, 
and was met by Arnold, with whom 
he held a conference which lasted till 
day-break, when it was too late for 
him to return to the vessek In this 
extremity, unfortunately for himself, he 
allowed Arnold to conduct him within 
one of the American posts, where he lay 
concealed till the next night. In the 
meantime the Vulture, having been in- 
commoded by an American battery, had 
moved lower down the river, and the 
boatmen now refused to convey the 
stranger on board her. Being cut off 
from this way of escape, Andre was 
advised to make for New York by land ; 
and, for this purpose, he was' furnished 
with a disguise, and a passport signed 
by Arnold, designating him as John 
Anderson. He had advanced in safety 
near the British lines, when he was 
stopped by three New York militia-men. 
Instead of showing his pass to these 
scouts, he asked them " where they be- 
longed to ? " and, on their answering 
" to below," meaning to New York, 
with singular want of judgment, he 
stated that he was a British officer, and 
begged them to let him proceed without 
delay. The men, now throwing off the 
mask, seized him ; and, notwithstanding 
his offers of a considerable bribe if they 
would release him, they proceeded to 
search him, and found upon his person 
papers which gave fatal evidence of his 
own culpability and of Arnold's trea- 
chery. These papers were in Arnold's 
handwriting, and contained exact and 
detailed returns of the state of the forces, 
ordnance, and defences of West Point 
and its dependencies, with the artillery 
orders, critical remarks on the works, 
an estimate of the number of men tluit 
were ordinarily on duty to man them, 
and the copy of a state of matters that 
had, on the sixth of the month, been laid 
before acouncilof war by the commander- 
in-chief. When Andre was conducted by 
his captors to the quarters of the com- 
mander of the scouting parties, still as- 
suming the name of Anderson, he re- 
quested permission to write to Arnold, 
to inform him of his detention. This 
request was inconsiderately granted ; 
and the traitor, being thus apprised of 
his peril, instantly made his escape. At 
this moment Washington arriving at 
West Point, was made acquainted with 



54 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



the whole affair. Having taken the 
necessary precautions for the security of 
his post, he referred the case of the 
prisoner to a court-martial, consisting 
of fourteen general officers. Before this 
tribunal Andre appeared with steady 
composure of mind. He voluntarily 
confessed all the facts of his case. Being 
interrogated by the Board with respect 
to his conception of his coming on 
shore under the sanction of a flag, he 
ingenuously replied, that " if he had 
landed under that protection he might 
have returned under it." The court, 
having taken all the circumstances of 
his case into consideration, unani- 
mously concurred in opinion " that he 
ought to be considered as a spy ; and 
that, agreeably to the laws and usages 
of nations, he ought to suffer death," 
Sir Henry Clinton, first by amicable ne- 
gociation, and afterwards by threats, 
endeavoured to induce the American 
commander to spare the life of his 
friend; but Washington did not think 
this act of mercy compatible with his 
duty to his country, and Andre was 
ordered for execution. He had peti- 
tioned to be allowed to die a soldier's 
death; but this request could not be 
granted. Of this circumstance, how- 
ever, he was kept in ignorance, till he 
saw the preparations for his final catas- 
trophe, when, finding that the bitterness 
of his destiny was not to be alleviated 
as he wished, he exclaimed, " It is but a 
momentary pang ! " and calmly submit- 
ted to his fate. 

Soon after this sad occurrence, Wash- 
ington, in writing to a friend, expressed 
himself in the following terras : — " Andre 
has met his fate, and with that fortitude 
which was to be expected from an ac- 
complished gentleman and a gallant offi- 
cer ; but I am mistaken if Arnold is 
not undergoing, at this time, the tor- 
ments of a mental hell." Whatever 
might be the feelinirs of the traitor, his 
treason had its reward. He was imme- 
diately appointed brisradier-ireneral in 
the sei-vice of the King of Great Bri- 
tain ; and, on his promotion, he had the 
folly and presumption to publish an 
address, in which he avowed, that, 
being dissatisKed with the alliance be- 
tween the United States and France, 
" he had retained his arms and com- 
mand for an opportunity to surrender 
them lo Great Britain." This address 
was exceeded in meanness and insolence 
by another, in which he invited liis late 
companions in anus to follow his ex- 



ample. The American soldiers read 
these manifestoes with scorn ; and so 
odious did the character of a traitor, as 
exemplified in the conduct of Arnold, 
become in their estimation, that " de- 
sertion totally ceased amongst thera 
at this remarkable period of the 
war*." 

Circumstances, however, took place 
soon after the discovery of Arnold's trea- 
chery, which led that renegade to enter- 
tain delusive hopes that the army of 
Washington would disband itself. The 
Pennsylvanian troops now serving on 
the Hudson had been enlisted on the am- 
biguous terms of " serving three years, 
or during the continuance of the war." 
As the three years from the date of 
their enrolment were expired, they 
claimed their discharge, which was re- 
fused by their officers, who maintained 
that the option of the two above-men- 
tioned conditions rested with the state. 
Wearied out with privations, and in- 
dignant at what they deemed an attempt 
to impose upon them, the soldiers flew 
to arms, deposed their officers, and 
under the guidance of others whom they 
elected in their place, they quitted Mor- 
ristown and marched to Princeton. 
Here they were solicited by the most 
tempting offers on the part of some 
emissaries sent to thera by Sir Henry 
Clinton, to put themselves under the 
protection of the British government. 
But they were so far from listening to 
these overtures, that they arrested Sir 
Henry's agents, and, their gi'ievances 
having been redressed by the interposi- 
tion of a committee of congress, tliey 
returned to their duty, and the British 
spies, having been tried by a board of 
officers, were condemned to death and 
executed. 

A similar revolt of a small body of the 
Jersey line was quelled by the capital 
punishment of two of the ringleaders of 
the mutineers. The distresses which 
were the chief cause of this misconduct 
of the American soldiery were princi- 
pally occasioned by the dejireciation of 
the continental currency ; which evil, at 
this period, effected its own cure, as the 
depreciated paper was by common con- 
sent, and without any act of the legis- 
lature, put out of use ; and by a season- 
able loan from France, and by the revi- 
val of trade with the French and Spa- 
nish West Indies, its place was speedily 
supplied by hard money. 

* Ramsay. 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



55 



§ 33. Campaign of 1781— Defeat of 

Greene, by Lord CornwalUs. 
Tlioui^h the Spaniards and the' Dutch 
had united with France in hostiUty 
against Britain, she, with dauntless 
spirit, every where made head against 
her foreign enemies; and his Ma- 
jesty's ministers were now, still more 
than ever, determined, by an extension 
of combined measures, to reduce the 
North American provinces to submis- 
sion. The plan of the campaign of 1781, 
accordingly, comprehended active ope- 
rations in the states of New York, 
Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. 
The invasion of the last mentioned 
province was entrusted to Arnold, who, 
taking with him a force of about 1600 
men, and a number of armed vessels, 
sailed up the Chesapeak, spreading 
terror and devastation wherever he 
came. An attempt to intercept him was 
made by the French fleet, which sailed 
from Rhode Island for that purpose ; 
but after an indecisive engagement with 
the squadron of Admiral Arbuthnot, off 
the capes of Virginia, was obliged to re- 
turn to Newport, leaving the invaded 
province open to the incursions of the 
British, who, making occasional ad- 
vances into the country, destroyed an 
immense quantity of public stores, and 
enriched themselves with an extensive 
plunder of private property, at the same 
time burning all the shipping in the 
Chesapeak and its tributary streams, 
which they could not conveniently carry 
away as prizes. The Carolinas also suf- 
fered severely by the scourge of war. 
"When Gates was superseded in the com- 
mand of the American forces in that 
district, he was succeeded by General 
Greene, to whose charge he transferred 
the poor remains of his army, which were 
collected at Charlotte, in North Caro- 
lina, and which amounted only to 2000 
men. These troops were imperfectly 
armed and badly clothed ; and such 
was the poverty of their military chest, 
that they were obliged to supply them- 
selves with provisions by forced requi- 
sitions made upon the inhabitants of the 
adjacent country. In these circum- 
stances, to encounter the superior num- 
bers of the enemy in pitched battle would 
have been madness. Greene, therefore, 
resolved to carry on the war as a par- 
tisan officer, and to avail himself of every 
opportunity of harassing the British in 
detail. The first enterprise which he 
undertook in prosecution of this system 
was eminently successful. Understand- 



ing that the inhabitants of the district of 
Ninety-six, who had submitted to the 
royal authority, were severely harassed by 
the licensed acts of plunder committed 
by the kings troops and the loyalists, 
he sent General Morgan into that quar- 
ter with a small detachment, which was, 
on its arrival, speedily increased by the 
oppressed countrymen, who' were burn- 
ing for revenge. Lord CornwalUs, who 
was, at this mon^ent, on the point of 
invading North Carolina, no sooner 
heard of this movement, than he sent 
Lieutenant- Colonel Tarleton with 1100 
men, to drive Morgan out of the district. 
Tarleton was an excellent partisan offi- 
cer, and had gained great reputation by 
his superior activity, and by his success 
in various rencounters with detached par- 
ties of the republican troops. _ This suc- 
cess, however, and the superiority of his 
numbers to those of Morgan's forces, 
caused him too much to despise the 
enemy. In pursuance of Lord Corn- 
wallis's orders, he marched in qvxest of 
his antagonist, and, on the evening of 
the 16th of January, 1781, he arrived at 
the ground which General Morgan had 
quitted but a few hours before. At two 
o'clock the next morning he recom- 
menced his pursuit of the enemy, march- 
ing with extraordinary rapidity through 
a very difficult country, and at daylight 
he discovered the enemy in his front. 
From the intelHgence obtained from 
prisoners who were taken by his scout- 
ing parties, he learned that Morgan 
awaited his attack at a place called the 
Cowpens, near Pacolet River. Here the 
American commander had drawn up 
his little army, two-thirds of which con- 
sisted of militia, in two lines, the first of 
which was advanced about two hundred 
yards before the second, with orders to 
form on the right of the second in case 
the onset of the enemy should oblige 
them to retire. The rear was closed by 
a small body of regular cavalry, and 
about forty-five mounted militia men. 
On the sight of this array, Tarleton 
ordered his troops to form in line. But 
before this arrangement was effected, 
that officer, obeying the dictates of 
valour rather than those of prudence, 
commenced the attack, heading his 
squadron in person. The British ad- 
vanced with a shout, and assailed the 
enemy with a well-directed discharge of 
musketry. The Americans reserved 
their fire till the British were within 
forty or fifty yards of their ranks, and 
then poured among them a volley which 



56 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



did considerable execution. The British, 
however, undauntedly pushed on and 
swept the militia off the field. They 
then assailed the second line, and com- 
pelled it to fall back on the cavalry. 
Here the Americans rallied, and re- 
newed the fight with desperate valour: 
charging the enemy with fixed bay- 
onets, they drove back the advance, and 
following up their success, overthrew 
the masses of their opponents as they 
presented themselves in succession, and 
finally won a complete and decisive 
victory, Tarleton fled from the bloody 
field, leaving his artillery and baggage in 
the possession of the enemy. His loss 
amounted to 300 killed and wounded, 
and 5 00 prisoners, whilst that of the Ame- 
ricans was only twelve killed and sixty 
wounded. Immediately after the action. 
General Greene sent off his prisoners, 
under a proper guard, in the direction 
of Virginia ; and as soon as he had made 
the requisite arrangements, he followed 
them with his little army. On receiving 
intelligence of Tarleton's disaster. Lord 
Cornwallis hastened in pursuit of the 
retreating enemy, and forced his marches 
with suc-h effect, that he reached the 
Catawba River on the evening of the 
day on which Morgan had crossed it ; 
but here his progress was for a short 
while im])eded, as a heavy fall of rain 
had rendered the stream impassable. 
When the waters subsided, he hurried 
on, hoping to overtake the fugitives be- 
fore they had passed the Yadkin ; but 
when he had arrived at that river, he 
found to his mortification that they had 
crossed it, and had secured the craft and 
boats which they had used for that pur- 
pose on the eastern bank. He therefore 
marched higher up the stream, till he 
found the river fordable. Whilst he 
was emjiloyed in this circuitous move- 
ment, General Greene had united his 
forces with those of Morgan, at Guild- 
ford Court-house. Still, however, the 
forces of the American commander were 
so inferior to those of his pursuers, that, 
not daring to risk an engagement, he 
hastened straight onwards to the River 
Dan; whilst Lord Cornwallis, traversing 
the upper country, where the streams 
are fordable, proceeded, in the hope that 
lie might gain upon the enemy, so as to 
overtake them, in consequence of their 
being obstructed in their progress by 
the deep water below. But so active 
was Greene, and so fortunate in finding 
the means of conveyance, that he 
crossedthe Dan into Virginia, with his 



whole army, artillery, and baggage. So 
narrow, however, was his escape, that 
the van of Cornwallis's army arrived in 
time to witness the ferrying over of his 
rear. 

Mortified as Lord Cornwallis was by 
being thus disappointed of the fruits of 
this toilsome march, he consoled him- 
self by the reflection that, the American 
army being thus driven out of North 
Carolina, he was master of that province, 
and was in a condition to recruit his 
forces by the accession of the loyalists, 
with whom he had been led to believe 
that it abounded. He therefore sum- 
moned all true subjects of his Majesty 
to repair to the royal standard, which 
he had erected at Hillsborough. This 
experiment had little success. The 
friends of government were in general 
timid, and diffident of his lordship's 
power ultimately to protect them. Their 
terrors were confirmed, when they 
learned that the indefatigable Greene had 
re-crossed tire Dan, and had cut off a 
body of Tories who were on their march 
to join the royal forces, and that he had 
compelled Tarleton to retreat from the 
frontier of the province to Hillsl)orough. 
For seven days, the American com- 
mander manoeuvred within ten miles of 
the British camp ; and at the end of that 
time, having received reinforcements 
from Virginia, he resolved to give Lord 
Cornwallis battle. The engagement 
took place on the I51h of March, at 
Guildford. The American army con- 
sisted of 4400 men, and the British of 
only 2400; but notwithstanding this 
disparity of numbers, disciplined valour 
prevailed. The American militia gave 
way with precipitation, and though the 
regulars fought with spirit, they were 
obliged to retreat, but only to the dis- 
tance of three miles. Lord Cornwallis 
kept the field, but he had suffered such 
loss in the action, that he was unable 
to follow up his victory, and soon after- 
wards marched towards AVilmington, 
leaving behind him his sick and wound- 
ed. On this march he was pursued by 
Greene as far as Deep River. 

^ 34. C(t7npnign of 1781 cimiinued — 
Defeat of Lord Ruwdun, bxj General 
Greene. 

At Wilmington, Lord Cornwallis made 
a halt for three days, for the pur- 
pose of giving his troo])s some rest ; 
and at the end of that time, resolving 
to carry the war into Virginia, he 
marched to Petersburgh, an inland town 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



57 



of that province, situated on James 
River. Hither it was expected that he 
would have been followed by the enemy ; 
but Greene, being aware that his lord- 
ship had by this movement approached 
nearer to the main army of the Ameri- 
cans, and confident that his motions 
would be closely watched by the Vir- 
ginia militia, after mature consideration 
adopted the bold measure of again pene- 
trating into South Carolina. That pro- 
vince was in the military occupation of 
the British, who were, indeed, harassed 
by the partisan troops of Marion and 
Sumpter, but were in such apparent 
strength, that there was reason to fear 
that the republicans, if not aided by fur- 
ther support, would abandon the cause 
of their country in despair. The British 
had formed chains of posts, which, ex- 
tending from the sea to the western ex- 
tremity of the province, maintained a 
mutual communication by strong pa- 
trols and bodies of horse. The first of 
these lines of defence was established on 
the Wateree, on the banks of which river 
the British occupied the well-fortified 
town of Camden, and Fort Watson, situ- 
ated between that place and Charleston. 
The attack of the fort Greene entrusted 
to Marion, who soon compelled its gar- 
rison to surrender on capitulation. In 
encountering Lord Rawdon near Cam- 
den, Greene was not so fortunate. In 
consequence of the unsteadiness of a 
few of his troops, he was defeated, but 
moved off the ground in such good order, 
that he saved his artillery, and though 
wounded, he took up a position, at the dis- 
tance of about five miles from Camden, 
from which he sent out parties to inter- 
cept the supplies, of which he was ap- 
prized that his antagonist was in the 
utmost need. In consequence of the vigi- 
lance of Greene in cutting off his re- 
sources, and of the loss of Fort Watson, 
which had been the link of his communi- 
cation with Charleston, Lord Rawdon, 
after having in vain endeavoured to bring 
on a second general engagement with the 
Americans, was reduced to the necessity 
of destroying a part of his baggage, and 
retreating to the south side of the River 
Santee. This retrograde movement en- 
couraged the friends of congress to re- 
sume their arms, and hasten to reinforce 
the corps of Marion, who speedily made 
himself master of the British posts on 
the Congaree, the garrisons of which 
were in general made prisoners, whilst 
those which escaped that fate by a timely 
evacuation of their positions, made good 



their retreat to the capital of the pro- 
vince. Savannah River now presented 
the last line of defence held by the Bri- 
tish, who there possessed the town of 
Augusta and the post of Ninety-six. 
The former of those places was attacked 
by Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, and after a 
defence of unprecedented obstinacy on 
the part of its commander, Colonel 
Brown, it surrendered on honourable 
terms. The important post of Ninety- 
six, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel 
Cruger, was strongly fortified, and de- 
fended by 500 men. On reconnoitring 
the place, General Greene, whose army 
was not much more numerous than the 
garrison, determined to besiege it in 
form. He accordingly broke ground on 
the 25th of May, and pushed his works 
with such vigour, that he had approached 
within six yards of the ditch, and had 
erected a mound thirty feet high, from 
which his riflemen poured their shot 
with fatal aim upon the opposite para- 
pet of the enemy, who were hourly ex- 
pected to beat a parley. But this bright 
prospect of success was at once over- 
clouded by the arrival of intelligence 
that Lord Rawdon, having received re- 
inforcements from Ireland, was hasten- 
ing to the relief of his countrymen at the 
head of 2000 men. In this extremity, 
Greene made a desperate effort to carry 
the place by assault, but was repulsed, 
and evacuating the works which he had 
constructed with so much labour, he 
retreated to the northward across the 
Saluda, from whence he was chased by 
Lord Rawdon beyond the Ennoree. 

The feelings of the American com- 
mander on seeing the fruit of his toils 
thus suddenly and unexpectedly torn 
from his grasp, must have been of a 
most agonising nature. But Greene 
was gifted witli an elasticity of spirit 
which prevented him from yielding to 
the pressure of misfortune, and his op- 
ponents seldom found him more danger- 
ous than immediately after suffering a 
defeat. On the present occasion, when 
some of his counsellors, in the moment 
of despondency, advised him to retreat 
into Virginia, he firmly replied, that " he 
would save South Carolina, or perish in 
the attempt." On maturely deliberating 
on the object of the campaign, and on 
the relative situation of himself and the 
enemy, he was well aware that though 
Lord Rawdon was superior to him in 
the number as well as the discipline of 
his troops ; yet, if his lordship kept his 
array concentrated, he could afford ng 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



&8 

encouraeiement, or even protection, to 
the royalists, and that if it were divided, 
it mi2:ht be beaten in detail. As he 
expecte(i, the British commander, find- 
ing? that he could not brins; him to an 
engagement, took the latter coarse, 
and withdrawing a detachment from 
Ninety-six, re-established himself on 
the line of the Congaree. Within 
two days, however, after his arrival at 
the banks of that river, he was asto- 
nished to find his indefatigable enemy 
in his front, with numbers so recruited, 
that he thought it prudent to decline the 
battle which was offered him, and re- 
treated to Orangeburgh, where he was 
joined by Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger, 
who, in the present circumstances, had 
thought it expedient to evacuate his 
post at Ninety-six. On the junction of 
the forces of these two commanders, 
Greene retired to the heights afcove 
Santee, from whence he sent his active 
coadjutors, Marion and Sumpter, with 
strong scouting parties, to interrupt the 
communication between Orangeburgh 
and Charleston. As a last effort to 
maintain their influence in the centre of 
the province, the British took post in 
force near the confluence of the Wa- 
teree and the Congaree ; but on the 
approach of Greene, they retreated for 
the space of forty miles, and waited his 
threatened attack at the Entan Springs. 
Here an obstinate engagement took 
place, in which the British were de- 
feated with the loss of 1100 men, and 
were compelled to abandon the province 
to the republicans, and take shelter 
in Charleston. Of all the incidents of 
the American revolutionary war, the 
most brilliant is this campaign of Ge- 
neral Greene. At the head of a beaten 
army, undisciplined, and badly equipped, 
he entered the province of South Ca- 
rolina, which was occupied, from its 
eastern to its western extremity, by an 
enemy much superior to him in num- 
bers, in appointments, and in military 
experience. But by his genius, his 
courage, and his perseverance, he broke 
through their hnes of operation, drove 
them from post to post, and though 
defeated in the field, he did not cease to 
harass them in detail, till he had driven 
them within the foriifications of the 
capital. Well did he merit the gold 
medal and the British standard be- 
stowed upon him by a vote of congress 
for his services on this occasion. By 
his successes he revived the drooping 
spirits of the friends of independence in 



the southern states, and prepared the 
way for the final victories which awaited 
the arms of his country in Virginia, and 
which led to the happy termination of 
the war. 

Whilst the American commander was 
enjoying the honours bestowed upon him 
by his grateful countrymen as the just 
meed of his valour and skill in arms, 
Lord Rawdon, soon after his return to 
Charleston, by an example of severity 
brought odium on the British cause, 
and fired the breasts of the continentals 
with indignation. Amongst the Ame- 
rican officers who distinguished them- 
selves in the defence of South Carolina 
was Colonel Haynes, a gentleman of 
fortune, and of considerable influence 
in his neighbourhood. After the capi- 
tulation of Charleston, Haynes volun- 
tarily surrendered himself to the British 
authorities, requesting to be allowed his 
personal liberty on his parole. This in- 
dulgence, usually granted to officers of 
rank, he could not obtain ; and was told 
that he must either take the oath of 
allegiance to his Britannic Majesty, or 
submit to close confinement. In an evil 
hour, induced by family considerations, 
lie chose the former alternative, and 
signed a declaration of fealty to George 
III., protesting, however, against the 
clause which required him to support 
the royal government with arms ; 
which clause the officer who received 
his submission assured him it was not 
intended to enforce. The officer in 
question no doubt in this assurance ex- 
ceeded his authority, and Haynes was 
time after time summoned to join the 
royal standard. Regarding this as a 
breach of the contract into which he 
had entered with the British, he again 
took up arms on the side of independ- 
ence, and having been taken prisoner 
in a skirmish with part of the royal 
forces, he was, without the formality of 
a trial, ordered for execution by Lord 
Rawdon. To the petitions of this unfor- 
tunate officer's children, as well as those 
of the inhabitants of Charleston, his 
lordship turned a deaf ear, and Haynes 
suffered death as a rebel and a traitor. 
Though the death of this gallant soldier 
may be vindicated by the strictness of 
the law, its policy was, in tiie existing 
circumstances, extremely questionable. 

^35. Further Events of the Campaign 
— Preparations for the Siege of New 
Yo?-k. 

It has already been related that, after 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



59 



defeating General Greene at Guildford, 
Lord Cornwallis marched to Peters- 
burgh, in Virginia. His lordship did 
not take tliis step without hesitation. 
He well knew the enterprising character 
of his opponent, and was aware of the 
probability of his making an incursion 
into South Carolina. He flattered 
himself, however, that the forces which 
he had left in that province under the 
command of Lord Rawdon would suffice 
to keep the enemy in check. In this 
idea he was confirmed by the result of 
the battle of Camden, and by the receipt 
of intelligence that three British regi- 
ments, which had sailed from Cork, 
might be expected speedily to arrive at 
Charleston. No longer anxious, there- 
fore, for the fate of South Carolina, he 
determined to march forwards, in the 
confident hope of increasing his military 
renown by the conquest of Virginia. 
He accordingly advanced with rapidity 
from Petersburgh to Manchester, on 
James River, with a view of crossing 
over from that place to Richmond, for 
the purpose of seizing a large quantity 
of stores and provisions, which had 
been deposited there by the Americans. 
But on his arrival at Manchester, he 
had the mortification to find that, on 
the day before, this depot had been re- 
moved by the Marquis de la Fayette, 
who, at the command of congress, had 
hastened from the Head of Elk to 
oppose him. Having crossed James 
River at Westown, his lordship marched 
through Hanover County to the South 
Anna River, followed at a guarded dis- 
tance by the marquis, who, in this 
critical contingency, finding his forces 
inferior to those of the enemy, wisely 
restrained the vivacity which is the 
usual characteristic of his age and 
country. But having effected a junc- 
tion with General Wayne, which 
brought his numbers nearly to an 
equality with those of the British, and 
having once more, by a skilful ma- 
noeuvre, saved his stores, which had 
been removed to Albemarle old court- 
house, he displayed so bold a front, that 
the British commander fell back to 
Richmond, and thence to Williams- 
burgh. On his arrival at the latter 
place. Lord Cornwallis received de- 
spatches from Sir Henry Clinton, re- 
quiring him instantly to send from his 
army a detachment to the relief of New 
York, which was threatened with a 
combined attack by the French and the 
Americans. The consequent diminution 



of his force induced his lordship to cross 
James River, and to march in the di- 
rection of Portsmouth. Before, however, 
the reinforcements destined for New 
York had sailed, he received counter- 
orders and instructions from Sir Henry 
Clinton, in pursuance of which he con- 
veyed his army, amounting to 7000 
men, to York Town, which place he 
proceeded to fortify with the utmost 
skill and industry. 

The object of Lord Cornwallis in thus 
posting himself at York Town, was to 
co-operate in the subjugation of Virginia 
with a fleet which he was led to expect 
would about this time proceed from the 
West Indies to the Chesapeak. Whilst 
his lordship was anxiously looking out 
for the British penants, he had the 
mortification, on the 30th of August, 
to see the Count de Grasse sailing up 
the bay with twenty-eight sail of the 
line, three of which, accompanied by a 
proper number of frigates, were imme- 
diately despatched to block up York 
River. The French vessels had no sooner 
anchored, than they landed a force of 
3200 men, who, under the command of 
the Marquis de St. Simon, eftected a 
junction with the army of La Fayette, 
and took post at Williamsburg. Soon 
after this operation, the hopes of the 
British were revived by the appearance 
off the Capes of Virginia, of Admiral 
Graves, with twenty sail of the line, — a 
force which seemed to be competent to 
extricate Lord Cornwallis from his diffi- 
cult position. These hopes, however, 
proved delusive. On the 7th of Sep- 
tember, M. de Grasse encountered the 
British fleet, and a distant fight took 
place, in which the French seemed to 
rely more on their manoeuvring than on 
their valour. The reason of this was 
soon apparent. In the course of the 
night which followed the action, a squa- 
dron of eight line-of-battle ships safely 
passed the British, and joined De Grasse, 
in consequence of which accession of 
strength to the enemy, Admiral Graves 
thought it prudent to quit that part of 
the coast, and retire to New York. 
This impediment to their operations 
having been removed, the Americans 
and French directed the whole of their 
united eiibrfs to the capture of York 
Town. 

This had not, however, been the ori- 
ginal design of General Washington at 
the commencement of the campaign. 
Early in the spring he had agreed with 
Count Rocharabeau to lay siege to New 



60 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



York, in concert with a French fleet 
which was expected to reach the neigh- 
bourhood of Staten Island in the month 
of August. He had accordingly issued 
orders for considerable reinforcements, 
especially of militia, to join his army in 
proper time to commence the projected 
operations. The French troops under 
llochambeau having arrived punctually 
at his encampment near Peek's Kill, 
General Washington advanced to King's 
Bridge, and hemmed in the British in 
York Island. Every preparation seemed 
to be now in forwardness for the com- 
mencement of the siege ; but the militia 
came in tardily. The adjacent states 
were dilatory in sending in their quotas 
of troops ; and whilst he was impatiently 
awaiting their arrival, Washington had 
the mortification to receive intelligence 
that Clinton had received a reinforce- 
ment of 3000 Germans. Whilst his 
mind was agitated by disappointment, 
and chagrined by that want of zeal on 
the part of the middle states which he 
apprehended could not but bring dis- 
credit on his country, in the estimation 
of his allies, he was relieved from his 
distress by the news of the success of 
Greene in driving Lord CornwaUis into 
York Town ; and at the same time learn- 
ing that the destination of Count de 
Grasse was the Chesapeak, and not 
Staten Island, he resolved to transfer 
his operations to the state of Virginia. 
Still, however, he kept up an appear- 
ance of persevering in his original inten- 
tion of making an attack upon New 
York, and in tliis feint he was aided by 
the circumstance, that when this was in 
reality his design, a letter, in which he 
liad detailed his plans for its prosecu- 
tion, had been intercepted, and read by 
Sir Henry Clinton. When, therefore, 
in the latter end of August, he broke up 
his encampment at Peek's Kill, and di- 
rected his march to the south, the British 
commander, imagining that this move- 
ment was only a stratagem calculated to 
throw him ott' his guard, and that the 
enemy would speedily return to take ad- 
vantage of his expected negligence, re- 
mained in his quarters, and redoubled 
his exertions to strengthen his jiosition. 
In consequence of this error, he lost the 
opportunity of impeding the march of 
the alhed army, and of availing himself 
of the occasions which might have pre- 
sented themselves of bringing it to action 
before it could effect a junction with the 
troops already assembled in the vicinity 
of York Town. Tims marching oawaids 



without molestation. General Washing- 
ton reached Williamsburgh on the 14th 
of September, and immediately on his 
arrival, visiting the Count de Grasse on 
board his flag- ship, the Ville de Paris, 
settled with him the plan of their future 
operations. 

^36. Stege of York Toum — Surrender 
of Lord CornwaUis. 

In pursuance of this arrangement, 
the combined forces, to the amount of 
12,000 men, assembled at Williams- 
burgh, on the 25th of September; and 
on the 30th of the same month marched 
forward to invest York Town, whilst 
the French fleet, moving to the mouth 
of York River, cut off Lord CornwaUis 
from any communication with a friendly 
force by water. His lordship's garrison 
amounted to 7000 men, and the place 
was strongly fortified. On the right it 
was secured by a marshy ravine, extend- 
ing to such a distance along the front of 
the defences as to leave them accessible 
only to the extent of about 1500 yards. 
This space was defended by strong lines, 
beyond which, on the extreme left, were 
advanced a redoubt and a bastion, which 
enfiladed their approach to Gloucester 
Point, on the other side of York River, 
the channel of which is here narrowed 
to the breadth of a mile, which post was 
also sufficiently garrisoned, and strongly 
fortified. Thus secured in his position, 
Lord CornwaUis beheld the approach of 
the enemy with firmness, especially as 
he had received despatches from Sir 
Henry Clinton, announcing his intention 
of sending 5000 men in afleet of twenty- 
three ships of the line to his relief. 

The allied forces on their arrival 
from Williamsburgh immediately com- 
menced the investiture both of York 
Town and of Gloucester Point; and on 
the 10th of October they opened their 
batteries with such effect, that their 
shells, flying over the town, reached the 
ship))ing in the harbour, and set fire to 
the Charon frigate, and to a transport. 
On this inauspicious day, too. Lord 
CornwaUis received a communication 
from Sir Henry Clinton, conveying to 
him the unwelcome inti'lligence that he 
doubted whether it would be in his 
power to send him the aid which he had 
promised. 

On the following morning the enemy 
commenced their second parallel, and 
finding themselves, in this advanced po- 
sition, severely annoyed by the bastiun 
and redoubt wliich have been mentioned 



HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



61 



above, they resolved to storm them. 
The reduction of the former of these 
works was committed to the French, 
whilst the attack of the latter was en- 
trusted to the Americans. Both parties 
rushina: to the assault with the spirit of 
emulation which this arrangement was 
calculated to inspire, the works in ques- 
tion were speedily carried at the point 
of the bayonet. 

It must be mentioned to the honour 
of the American soldiers, that though 
in revenge for a massacre recently com- 
mitted at New London, in Connecticut, 
by a body of troops under the command 
of the renegade Arnold, they had been 
ordered to take no prisoners, they fore- 
bore to comply with this requisition, 
and when they had penetrated into tlie 
redoubt, spared every man who ceased 
to resist. On the 16th of October, a 
sally was made from the garrison, but 
with indifferent success ; and Lord 
Cornwallis vVas now convinced that he 
could avoid surrender only by effecting 
his escape by Gloucester Point. Seeing 
himself therefore reduced to the neces- 
sity of trying this desperate expedient, 
he prepared as many boats as he could 
procure, and on the night of the 16th of 
October attempted to convey his army 
over York River to the ojjposite pro- 
montory. But the elements were ad- 
verse to his operations. The first di- 
vision of his troops was disembarked in 
safety; but when the second was on its 
passage, a storm of wind and rain arose, 
and drove it down the river. 

Though this second embarkation 
worked its way back to York Town on 
the morning of the 17th, Lord Corn- 
wallis was convinced, however unwil- 
lingly, that protracted resistance was 
vain. No aid appeared from New 
York — his works were ruined — the fire 
from the enemy's batteries swept the 
town ; and sickness had diminished the 
effective force of the garrison. In these 
painful circumstances, nothing remained 
for him but to negociate terms of capi- 
tulation. He accordingly sent a flag of 
truce, and having agreed to give up his 
troops as prisoners of war to coni>ress, 
and the naval force to France, he, on 
the 19th of October, marched out of his 
lines with folded colours ; and pro- 
ceeding to a field at a short distance 
from the town, he surrendered to 
General Lincoln, with the same for- 
malities which had been prescribed to 
that officer at Charleston, eighteen 
months before. Another coincidence 



was remarked on this occasion. The 
capitulation under which Lord Corn- 
wallis surrendered was drawn up by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens, whose fa- 
ther had filled the office of president of 
congress, and having been taken prisoner 
when on his voyage to Holland, in 
quality of ambassador from the United 
States to the Dutch Republic, had 
been consigned, under a charge of high 
treason, to a rigorous custody in the 
Tower of London, of which fortress his 
lordship was constable. 

Had Lord Cornwallis been able to 
hold out five days longer than he did, 
he might possibly have been relieved ; 
for on the 24th of October, a British 
fleet, conveying an army of 7000 men, 
arrived off the Chesapeak ; but finding 
that his lordship had already surren- 
dered, tliis armament returned to New 
York and Sandy Hook. 

^ 37. Provisional Treaty of Peace, 30lh 
November, 1782. 

It was with reason that the congress 
passed a vote of thanks to the captors 
of York Town, and that they went in 
procession, on the 24th of October, to 
celebrate the triumph of their arms, by 
expressing, in the solemnities of a reli- 
gious service, their gratitude to Al- 
mighty God for this signal success. 
The surrender of Lord Cornwallis was 
the virtual termination of the war. From 
this time forward, to the signature of 
the treaty of peace, the British were 
cooped up in New York, Charleston, 
and Savannah. From these posts they 
now and then, indeed, made excursions 
for the purpose of foraging and plunder ; 
but being utterly unable to appear in 
force in the interior of the country, they 
found themselves incompetent to carry 
on any operations calculated to promote 
the main object of the war — the sut)ju- 
gation of the United States. Perse- 
verance, however, still seemed a virtue 
to the British cabinet. Immediately 
after the arrival of the intelligence of 
the capture by the Americans of a 
second British army, George III. de- 
clared, in a speech to parliament, " that 
ho should not answer the trust commit- 
ted to tlie sovereign of a free people, if 
he consented to sacrifice, either to his 
own desiie of peace, or to their tempo- 
rary ease and relief, those essential rights 
and permanent interests, upon the main- 
tenance and preservation of which the 
future strength and security of the coun- 
try must for ever depend." When called 



62 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



upon in the House of Commons for an 
explanation of this vague and assuming 
language, Lord North avowed that it 
was the intention of ministers to carry 
on in North America " a war of posts ;" 
and such was, at that moment*, the 
state of the house, that, in despite of the 
eloquence of Mr. Fox, who laboured to 
demonstrate the absurdity of this new 
plan, a majority of 218 to 129 concurred 
in an address which was an echo of his 
majesty's speech. But the loud mur- 
murs of the people, groaning beneath 
the weight of taxation, and indignant 
under a sense of national misrule, at 
length penetrated the walls of the senate- 
house. Early in the year 1782, motion 
after motion was made in the House of 
Commons, expressive of the general 
wish for the termination of hostilities 
with the United States. The minister 
held out with obstinacy, though, on 
each renewal of the debate, he saw his 
majority diminish ; till at length, on the 
27th of February, on a motion of Ge- 
neral Conway, expressly directed against 
the further prosecution of offensive war 
on the continent of North America, he 
was left in a minority of nineteen. This 
victory was followed up by an address 
from the house to his majesty, according 
to the tenor of General Conway's motion. 
To this address so equivocal an answer 
was returned by the crown, that the 
friends of pacification deemed it neces- 
sary to speak in still plainer terms ; and 
on the 4th of March, the House of Com- 
mons declared, that whosoever should 
advise his majesty to any further prosecu- 
tion of offensive war against the colonies 
of North America should be considered 
as a public enemy. This was the death- 
blow to Lord North's administration. 
His lordship retired from office early in 
the month of March, and was succeeded 
by the Marquis of Rockingham, the 
efforts of whose ministry were as much 
and as cordially directed to peace as 
those of Lord Shelburne's. On the 
death of the Marquis, which took 
place soon after he had assumed the 
reins of government, the Earl of Shel- 
burne was called on to preside over 
his Majesty's councils, which, under his 
auspices, were directed to the great ob- 
ject of pacification. To this all the 
parlies interested were well inclined. 
The English nation was weary of a civil 
war in which it had sustained so many 
discomfitures. The king of France, 

r • ___^ 

•Nov. 27th, 1781. 



who had reluctantly consented to aid 
the infant republic of North America, 
was mortified by the destruction of the 
fleet of De Grasse, in the West Indies, 
and found the expenses of the war press 
heavily on his'^finances. The Spaniards 
were disheartened by the failure of their 
efforts to repossess themselves of Gib- 
raltar ; and the Dutch were impatient 
under the suspension of their commerce. 
Such being the feehngs of tiie bellige- 
rents, the negociations for a peace be- 
tween Great Britain and the United 
States were opened at Paris, by Mr. 
Fitzherbert and Mr. Oswald on the part 
of the former power, and by John 
Adams, Doctor Franklin, John .Jay, and 
Henry Laurens, on behalf of the latter. 
These negociations terminated in pro- 
visional articles of peace, which were 
signed on the 30th November, 1782. 
By this important instrument, the inde- 
pendence of the thirteen provinces was 
unreservedly acknowledged by his Bri- 
tannic Majesty, who moreover conceded 
to them an unlimited right of fishing on 
the banks of Newfoundland and the 
River St. Lawrence, and all other places 
where they had been accustomed to fish. 
All that the British plenipotentiaries 
could obtain for the American loyalists 
was, a provision that congress should 
earnestly recommend to the legislatures 
of the respective states the most lenient 
consideration of their case, and a resti- 
tution of their confiscated property. 

§ 38. Co7icIusion. 
Thus terminated the American revo- 
lutionary war — a war which might have 
been prevented by the timely concession 
of freedom from internal taxation, as 
imposed by the British parliament, and 
by an abstinence on the part of the 
Crown from a violation in this import- 
ant particular of chartered rights. The 
conhdential letters of Doctor Franklin 
evince that it was \\ith extreme re- 
luctance the American jiatriots adopted 
the measure of severing the colonies 
from the mother country. But when 
they had taken this decisive step, by 
the deciaralion of independence, they 
firmly resolved to abide by the conse- 
quences of their own act : and, with the 
single exception of Georgia, never, even 
in the most distressful contingencies of 
the war, did any pul)lic body of the pro- 
vinces shew any disposition to resume 
their allegiance to the king of Great 
Britain. Still, it may be a matter of 
doubt if, when we consider the conduct 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



63 



of the inhabitants of the Jerseys, when 
Washington was flying before General 
Howe, whether, had the British com- 
manders restrained their troops with the 
strictness of disciphne, and exercised 
towards the American people the con 
ciliatory spirit evinced in Canada by Sir 
Guy Carleton, the fervor of resistance 
might not have been abated and sub- 
dued. But civil wars are always con- 
ducted with cruelty and rancour. The 
Americans were treated by the British 
soldiery not as enemies entitled to the 
courtesies of war, but as rebels, whose 
lives and property lay at the mercy of 
the victors. Hence devastation marked 
the track of the invading forces, while 
the inhabitants found their truest safety 
inresistance, and their best shelter in the 
republican camp. Nor will he who reads 
with attention the minute details of this 
eventful contest be surprised, that the 
British ministry persevered in the war 
when success might have appeared to be 
hopeless. It is now well known that 
George III. revolted from the idea of 
concession to his disobedient subjects, 
and was determined to put all to the 
hazard, rather than acknowledge their 
independence. Lord North, at an early 
period of the war, had misgivings as to 
its ultimate success, but he had not firm- 
ness enough to give his sovereign un- 
welcome advice ; whilst Lord George 
Germaine and the other ministers fully 
sympathised with the royal feelings, and 
entered heartily into the views of their 
master. They were apprised, from 
time to time, of the destitute condition 
of the American army, but living as they 
did in luxury, and familiarized as they 
were with the selfishness and venality 
of courts and political parties, they 
could not conceive the idea of men 
sacrificing health, property, and life, 
for their country's good. When Wash- 
ington was beaten in the field, such 
men imagined that the affairs of the 
congress were desperate, and flattered 
themselves that the great body of the 
colonists, wearied and disheartened by 
successive defeats, would be glad to 
accept the royal mercy, and to return to 
their allegiance. In these notions they 
were confirmed by the loyalists, who, 
giving utterance to their wishes, rather 
than stating the truth, afforded the most 
incorrect representations of the feelings 
and temper of their countrymen. Some 
of these coming over to England were 
received with favour in high circles, and 



by their insinuations kept up to the last a 
fatal delusion. These individuals at 
length fell the victims of their own 
error. Traitors to their country, they 
lost their property by acts of confisca- 
tion, and while they lived on the bounty 
of the British crown, they had the 
mortification to see the country which 
they had deserted, rise to an exalted 
rank amongst the nations of the earth. 

It must also be admitted that the 
people of England sympathized with 
their Government up to a late period, in 
the feelings which prompted perse- 
verance in this iniquitous war. Exces- 
sive loyalty to the Crown ; a certain un- 
defined appetite for military achieve- 
ments ; resentment against the Ame- 
ricans for questioning British supre- 
macy, strongly impressed the public 
mind, and rendered the war disgrace- 
fully popular in many quarters. Such 
sentiments were fostered and encouraged 
by the accession of France, Spain, and 
Holland to the cause of her revolted 
states, and the prospect of naval victo- 
ries. We may reasonably indulge the 
hope, that the lesson then, and during 
the French revolutionary war, taught 
by experience, and the subsequent im- 
provement of the public mind, will pre- 
vent it from ever again joining its go- 
vernment in such a conspiracy against 
freedom and justice. 

When the ministers of the king of 
France incited their master to enter 
into an alliance with the revolted colo- 
nies, they did so under the idea that the 
separation of those provinces from the 
parent state would ruin the resources of 
Great Britain. Events have proved 
how erroneous was their calculation. 
From her commercial intercourse with 
Independent America, Great Britain 
has derived more profit than she could 
have gained had her growth been stunted 
by the operation of restrictive laws. In 
a constitutional point of view, also, the 
disjunction of the thirteen provinces 
from the British empire will not be con- 
templated with any regret by those who 
are jealous of the influence of the crown, 
and who will reflect that, by the peace 
of 1782, it was deprived of the appoint- 
ment of a host of governors, lieutenant- 
governors, chief justices, and other 
officers, selected from the scions of 
powerful families, and protected from 
the consequences of the abuse of their 
trusts by the influence of those whose 
dependants they arc. 



64 



HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN 



■ 'TrnTz-wT 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



NOTE. 




011 711 525 2 



Some doubts having" arisen as to whether 
the question which led to the separation of 
the colonies from the mother-country was 
really confined to the point of taxation, and 
did not also involve the claim of Parliament 
to legislate generally for the colonies, the in- 
troduction into this note of a plain statement 
of the foct and the law may not be thought 
superfluous. 

It will be clearly seen by a reference to the 
preceding narrative, that in the lengthened 
discussions which were carried on prior to 
the breaking out of hostilities, the point at 
issue was the right of Parliament to tax the 
colonies, and not its general power of legisla- 
tion ft)r them. This power no one seems at 
that time to have thought of questioning for 
a moment ; though all the colonies united in 
strenuously maintaining the exclusive right 
of taxing themselves, which they had enjoyed 
by charter and by constant usage. This 
was also the view of the subject uniformly 
taken by the parliamentary advocates of the 
American colonies ; and had it not been 
deemed constitutionally somid, the colonies, 
jealous as they were of their political rights, 
would not have been content silently to ac- 
quiesce in it. " I assert (said Lord Chatham 
on the 17th December, 17G5), I assert the 
authority of this country over the colonies to 
be sovereign and supreme, in every circum- 
stance of government and legislation." But 
he added, '• Taxation is no part of the go- 
verning or legislating power, — taxes are a 
voluntary grant of the people alone." 

Such was then the imdisputed theory and 
practice of the constitution, even as recog- 
nised by the colonies tl\emselves. 

But it has been s\qiposed that although, 
prior to the revolution, the colonies never 
questioned the supreme legislative authority 
of the mother. country, yet that parliament 
had by some act of its own divested itself of 
this authority. This, however, is not the case. 
On the contrary, thu Act of G'-o. IIL c. 12, 
commonly called the Drr/tira/ori/ Ac/, dis- 
tinctly lays it down as the law of the realm, 
" that the King, Lords, and Commons in 
Parliament assembled, had, hath, and of 
full right ought to have, full power and au- 
thority to make laws and statutes of suffi- 
cient force and validity to bind, in all cases 
whatsoever, the colonies subject to the British 
crown." 



The Act remains unrepealed, and is still in 
full force, with one single exception from tlie 
universality of its declaration, which will be 
found in the 18//i Georc/e IIL c. \I. A 
clause in this statute enacts, that from and 
after its passing, the king and parliament will 
not impose any duty or tax on the colonies, 
except such as may be required for the regu- 
lation of commerce, and that the net produce 
of such duty or tax shall be applied to the 
use of each colony respectively in which it is 
levied, in such manner as the other duties 
collected by the authority of the assemblies 
of such colonies are applied. 

That the practice of parliament has been 
in accordance with the principle of these 
declaratory enactments might be shewn by 
a reference to numerous statutes subsequently 
enacted, which directly legislate for the 
colonies. 

Tlie authority of Mr. Burke may be added, 
as that of the person most jealous on the 
subject of colonial rights, for he, in fact, was 
the parliamentary leader throughout the con- 
test against the rights of the mother-country, 
and sacrificed his seat at Bristol to his opi- 
nions in favour of the colonies. But in his 
celebrated speech on American taxation in 
1774, he expressly maintains the supremacy 
of parliament, and the full extent of the 
rights claimed by the Declaratory Act, to 
which he holds the abandonment of the 
taxing power no exception. This forms the 
conclusion of the si)eech. (See Works, vol. 
ii., pp. 435 and 440, 8vo edition.) The same 
doctrines he continued to holdin 1775, when 
he renewed his resolutions of conciliation, 
and in 1 780, when he retired from the repre- 
sentation of Bristol. In his famous speech 
upon the former occasion, he declares himself 
to wish as little as any man being to impair 
the smallest particle of the supreme authority 
of |)arliament (Works, vol. iii., p 109), and in 
1 7\)2, when he had become, if possible, more 
attached to tl>e colonial party, both here and 
in France, he prepared a slave code, to be 
enacted in England for our West India 
colonies. 

This statement proves, first, that the 
mother-country never abandoned the legisla- 
tive authority, except as regards the right of 
taxing ; and secondly, that the colonists never 
even claimed any further exemption from 
the juriscUctiou of Parliament. 



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